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1 

2 

3 

32X 


1 

2 

3 

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5 

6 

I 


Hours  with  the  Bible 


OR 


THE  SCRIPTURES  IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  MODERN  DISCOVERY 

AND  KNOWLEDGE 


BT 


CUNNINGHAM  GEIKIE,   D.D. 

AUTBOB  or  "  TBE  LIYK  AKD  WoaDB  Or  OHBIBT  " 


VOL.  I. 

FROM  CREATION  TO  THE  PATRIARCHS 


WITH  ILLUSTRATIONS 


1/-^ 


NEW  YORK 

JAMES  POTT,  PUBLISHER 

12  AsTOR  Placb 

1888 


^^eX^^ 


*,-i     .-    -i  -:     r\     j 


INSCRIBED 
TO  THE  RIGHT  HON.  AND  MOST  REVEREND 

ARCHIBALD      CAMPBELL      TAIT, 

NINETY-SBCOND  ARCHBISHOP  OP  CANTERBURY, 
PRIMATE  OP  ALL  ENGLAND,  AND  METROPOLITAN,  ETC.,  ETC.,  ETO^ 

WITH    SINCERE    EESPEOT.      ^ 


i  I 


PREFACE. 


Cervantes  says  of  one  of  his  characters,  that  he  was 
"  as  kind  a  man  as  ever  trod  on  shoe  leather ;  mighty 
good  to  the  poor ;  *  a  main  friend  to  all  honest  people, 
and  had  a  face  like  a  benediction."  It  is  because  I 
believe  all  this  literally  true  of  the  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury that  I  inscribe  this  book  to  him ;  for  any  approach 
to  insincerity  would  be  alike  unworthy  of  him  and  of 
myself.  The  record  of  his  inner  life  in  that  most  touching 
book,  "  Catherine  and  Craufurd  Tait/'  justifies  the 
earlier  clauses,  and  no  one  who  has  seen  him  can  dispute 
the  last. 

For  the  name  I  have  chosen — "  Hours  with  the  Bible  " 
— I  am  indebted  to  my  old  friend,  the  Rev.  W.  Calvert, 
Vicar  of  St.  Peter's,  Lordship  Lane.     He  may  perhaps 

•  By  a  strange  chance  I  read  to-day  in  the  paper :  "  On  Thurs- 
day last,  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  entertained  600  of  the 
poor  of  Lambeth  to  tea  in  the  Library  of  the  Palace.  The 
company,  including  many  of  the  blind  of  the  neighbourhood, 
then  assembled  in  the  Palace  grounds,  where  they  were  made 
glad  by  the  bright  and  cheerful  conversation  and  singing  of  the 
Archbishop's  three  daughters.  At  eight  o'clock  the  evening 
hymn  was  sung,  and  his  Grace  gave  his  blessing  to  all  present. 
On  leaving,  each  visitor  received  a  bunch  of  beautiful  flowers." 


li 


IM 


•  i 


'I 


VI 11 


PREFACE. 


remember  how  he  suggested  it  to  me,  years  ago,  as  we 
were  walking  together  one  summer  evening,  along  the 
delightful  road  between  his  Church  and  West  Dulwich. 

My  aim  in  this  new  undertaking,  which  involves  almosfc 
more  labour  than  "  My  Life  and  Words  of  Christ,"  has 
been  and  will  be  to  bring  all  that  I  can  gather  from 
every  available  source  to  bear  on  the  illustration  of  tho 
Scriptures.  I  should  like  to  supply  what  Doctor 
Arnold  used  to  long  for— "A  people's  hand-book  to 
the  Bible ; "  not  a  dry  series  of  papers,  but  a  pleasant, 
attractive  illumination  of  its  pages  by  the  varied  lights 
of  modern  research  and  discovery.  Whether  or  not  I 
hav^  succeeded  in  this  first  volume,  must  be  loft  to  the 
reader  to  determine. 

It  is  fit  that  I  should,  meanwhile,  express  my  best 
thanks  to  Professor  G.  Ebers,  of  Leipsic,  whom  I  need 
do  no  more  than  name,  for  kindly  and  valued  hints; 
and  also  to  my  learned  friend.  Dr.  Samuel  Birch,  of  the 
British  Museum,  for  important  and  right  friendly  help. 
Nor  must  I  forget  my  beloved  brother  clergyman,  the 
Rev.  J.  Aberigh  Mackay,  M.A.,  B.D.,  of  Paris,  who  has 
taken  the  trouble  to  revise  many  of  the  proof  sheets. 

And  now  may  He  whose  Written  Word  I  have  sought 
to  vindicate  and  illustrate,  own  my  humble  efibrts.  And 
may  He,  in  His  own  good  time,  open  the  way  for  my 
return  to  the  land  of  Libraries,  and  Sabbaths,  and  Evan- 
gelical Religion — thrice  happy  England. 


LIST    OF    AUTHORITIES. 

The  following  are  some  of  the  authorities  used  iu  this  book,  many, 
however,  being  necessarily  omitted : — 


jliiU  to  Faith.    8vo.    London. 
Ar«vll,  Dake  of.     Man  Primeval. 

London,  1869. 
Augusti    und   De    Wette.       Die 

Schriften  dea  Alten  Teatamenta. 

6  vols.    Heidelberg,  1809. 
Bavle's  Dictioiinaire.     8  vols,  folio. 

Rotterdam,  1702. 
Beer's  Leben  Ahraharri'a.     Leipzig, 

1859. 

„      Leben  Moaet.    Leipzig,  1863. 

,,      Qeschichte,  Lehren,  etc.,  der 

Juden.  2  vols.    1820. 
Beitheau.  Die  Sieben  Qruppcn  Mo- 

aaischer  Geaetze.  Gottingen,1810. 
„  Geachichte  der  Isracl- 

iten.    Gottingen,  1842. 
Biblical    Archceology,  Society    of, 

Tranaactiona  of  the.      Vols.  i. — 

vii    London,  1872-80. 
Biblical     Thinga    not     Qeneralhj 

Known.    2  vols.    London,  1879. 

(A  very  useful  book.) 
Birch,  Dr.  S.      Ancient  Hiatory — 

Egypt.    London,  no  date. 
Bleek,  F.     Introduction  to  the  Old 

Testament.  2  vols.  London,  1876. 
Von   Bohlen,    P.       Die    Genesia. 

Konigsberg,  1835. 
Brockhaus.  Converaationa  Lexicon. 

15  vols.    12th  ed.    Berlin,  1880. 
Brugsch.    Egypt  under  the   Fha- 

raoha.    2  vols.    London,  1879. 
„  Aua  dem  Orient.    Ber- 

lin, 1864. 
„  Geographiache  Inachrif- 

ten.    Leipzig,  1857-60. 
,t  Wandenmgen  nach  den 

TurqisMinen.    Leipzig,  1868. 
Biidinger.    Egyptische      Einicirk- 

ungen     auf    Ilebraische   Culte. 

Wien,  no  date. 
Bunsen's  Bibel  Urkunden.    Leip< 

zig,  1860. 


Bunsen's  Correct  Chronology  of  the 

Bible.    London,  1874. 
Buxtorff's    Lexicon    Talmudicnm. 

Folio.   BasilecD,  1639. 
,,  Synagoga        Judaica. 

Basileffi,  1680. 
Ccedmon'a  Paraphraae^  by  Thorpe. 

London,  1832. 
Cassell's  The    Biblical    Educator. 

4  vols.  4to.    London,    v.  d. 
Chabas.    Ktndea    sur    VAntiquiti 

Hiatorique.     Paris,  1874. 
,,  Lea  Tnacriptiona  dex  Minea 

d'Or.     Chalons  sur  Sa6ne,  1862. 
„  Mel(t  iigps  Kfiyptologiq  uea. 

8  ser.    Paris,  1862-1873. 
„  Voyage     d'un    Egyptien 

en  Syrie.    Paris,  1867. 
,,  Lea  Paptjriia  Hi^ratiquei 

de  Berlin.     Paris,  1863. 
Clerici.       Comment,    in     Oeneain, 

Amstelodami,  1710. 
Cohen's     Histor.     kritiach.    Dar- 

atellung  d.   Jud.   Gotteadienatea. 

I-eipzig,  1819. 
Conder,  F.  R.   and  C.  R.     Hand- 
book to  the  Bible.  London,  1879. 
Creuzer.    Symbolik  und  Mytholo- 
gies etc.     Leipzig,  1822. 
CroU,  Dr.  Jas.     Climate  and  Time. 

London,  1878. 
Darwin's  Voyage  of  a  Naturalist^ 

London. 
Dathii.    Libri  Hiatorici  Vet.  Teat, 

HalaB,  1784. 
Dawkins,    Boyd.     Cave    Hunting. 
Dawson,  Prof.  J.  W.     Eozoon ;  or^ 

The  Dawn  of  Life.  London,  1875. 
„  Fossil  Men  and  their 

Modem    Repreaentativea.    Lon- 
don, 1880. 
Delitzsch,  F.    Com.  ilber  die  Gene- 

aia.    3rd  ed.     1860. 

,,  DaaBuchHiob.l%QL 


h 


MBT  or   AUTRORITIEB. 


ii 


..II 
I 


Denor     Pfahlhautfti    dfn    tffnen- 

hfri/er  Seen.     Frankfurt,  18C7. 
Dietrich.     Ahhnndluugen  zur  Ileb. 

(Innnindtik.     IHU). 
Dilliiuinn,  Dr.     l)a»  Duch  Henoch. 

fifip/.ig,  1853. 
Diiiiiichcn's  Genchichte    dea   Alten 

A'lgijptent.     Berlin,  1979 

„        Tcmpelimchriften  Ed- 

fu.     Leipzig,  1867. 

,,      Geographische  Inschrif- 

ten.    Leipzig,  1805. 
Ebers.     JEgypten  und  die  liUcher 

Mose's.    Leipzig,  1868. 

„  Kine  A'lijyptiache  K'dnigs- 

tochter.  3  vo\b.    Stuttgart,  1873. 

„         Durch   Gosen  zum  Sinai. 

Leipzig,  1872. 

„         Uanla,  Leipzig,  1877. 

„         The  Sisters,  Leipzig,  1880. 
Eichhorn'B  Einleitumj  in  dan  Alte 

Teat.    5  vols.     Gottingen,  1823. 
Eisenmenger  a    Judetithum     Ent- 

de.ck'ea.    2   vols.    4to.     Konigs- 

berg,  1711. 
Ellis.       Polyneaian      Researches. 

London. 
English  Cyclopcedia,  The.  London. 
Eaaaifs  and  lieviewa,  The.     Lon- 
don, 1860. 
Etheridge,  J.   W.     The    Targumt 

on  the  Pentateuch.   2  vols.   Lon- 
don, 1862. 
Ewald's  Geschichte  des  Volkes  la^ 

rael.    3rd  ed.    Gottingen,  1868. 
„      AlterthUmer     dea     Volkea 

Israel.     Gottingen,  1866. 
Fraas.     Aus  dem  Orient.     1867. 
Friedlander.  SUtengeachichte  Roma. 

3  vols.    Leipzig,  1871. 
Furrer,  K.    Die  Bedeutung  der  Bib. 

Geographic,  etc.  Zurich.  1870. 
,,        Paldatina.  Zurich,  1866. 
Geikie,  James.     2'he  Great  Ice  Age. 

London,  1877. 
Gesenius.     Commentar     Uber    den 

lesaia.    Leipzig,  1821. 

„  Heb.  und   Chalddische 

Handworterbnch.      9th    ed.    by 

Mtihiau  andVolck.     1878. 

„  Thesaurus  Livguce  Heb. 

et  Chaldaa.    4to.   Lipsite,  1835. 


Godot.  Etudea  BihUquet,  2  vols. 
Gonfivo,  1876. 

Godwyn's  Aaron  and  Motet.  Lon- 
don,  16G7. 

Gould,  Baring.      Heatheniam    and 
Motaiam,  2  vols.   London,  1869. 
„  Legends    of    Old 

Teat.  Charactera.     2  vols.    Lon- 
don, 1871. 

Graetz,  Dr.  H.  Oeachichte  der 
Juden.    4  vols.    Leipzig,  1874. 

Green,  Prof.    Geology.    London. 

Gucrins.  Deter iption  de  la  Pales- 
tine.   8  vols.    Paris. 

Hardwick's  Christ  and  other  Mat- 
tert,    2  vols.    London. 

Hecker*s  Epidemics  of  the  MiddU 
Ages.    London. 

Heer's  Primeval  World  of  Switzer- 
land.    2  vols.    London,  1874 

Herder,  J.  G.  von.  Vom  Geiat  der 
Ebraiachen  Poeaie.  Stuttgart, 
1827. 

Her/.og's  Real-Encyklopddie.  22 
vols.    Gotha,  1866. 

Hirsch,  Eabbi  S.  R.    Der  Penta- 
teuch.   6  vols.  Frankfurt  a.  M. 
1876. 

Hitzig.    Das  Buch  Hiob.    Leipzig, 
1874. 
„        Geschichte  det  Volkes  Is- 
rael.    Leipzig,  1869. 

Hurwitzen.  Sagen  der  Ebrder. 
Oettingen.     1828. 

Ideler.  Handbuchder  Chronologies 
2  vols.    Berlin,  1825-6. 

Jabn's  History  of  the  Hebrew  Com- 
monwealth.   Oxford,  1840. 

Josephus.     Whiaton't  Tranalation. 

Justi.  Geschichte  des  Alten  Per- 
aiens.    Berlin,  1879. 

Juke's  Geology.    Edinburgh,  1863. 

Ealisoh.    Historical  and   Critical 
Commentary  on  Old  Testament 
Vols.  i.  and  ii.    London,  1858. 

Keil,  K.  F,  Handbuch  der  Bibli- 
achen  Archaologie.  Frankfurt 
a.  M.,  1878. 

„      and  Delitzsch.    Bib.  Com* 
mentar.    Leipzig,  1878. 

Eitto'g  Cyclopcedia  of  Bib.  Litera- 
ture.   8  vols.    Edinburgh,  1860. 


L^:., 


LIST    or   AUTHORITIES. 


XI 


Kitto'8  Daily  Pihle   Illuttratiom, 

H  vols.    Luudon,  no  date. 

„        Pictorinl    liible.    8   vols. 

Loudon,  XxO  dato. 
„     Pictorial  Paleitine.    2  vols. 

London,  no  date. 
Klee.F.  LaDHuge,ete.  PariB,1847. 
Knobel.  DieGeiutis.    SteAufg.von 

Dr.  Dillmauu.    Leipzig,  1875. 
„        Die  V'dlhertafel  der  Oene- 

«tf.     Qiessen,  1850. 
Kohlor's  Lehrbuch   der    Bib.   Qe- 

Bchichte.  Erlangen,  1875. 
Lane's  Modern  Egyptiam.    2  vols. 

London,  1871. 
Lauth.    Au8    jEgypten*$    Vorzeit. 

Berlin,  1879. 
Lassen's  Indische  Alterthunukunde. 

Bonn,  1862. 
Lenormant.    Les  Origines  de  VHis- 

toire.    Paris,  1880. 

„  Le8  Premieres  Civili- 

aatiom.    2  vols.    Paris,  1874. 
,,  La    Magie    chez  let 

Chaldeens.    Paris,  1874. 

„  La  Divination  che» 

lea  Chaldiena.    Paris,  1875. 
Lepsius.    DenkmUler  aua  Jigypten 

und  Ethiopien.  Berlin,  1849-59. 
Lubbock's  Prehistoric  Times.  8vo. 
Lynch's  Jordan  and  the  Dead  Sea. 

Philadelphia.     1849. 
Macmillan's  Bible  in  Nature.  Lon- 
don. 

„  Ministry  of  Nature, 

Martineau,  Harriet.    Eastern  Life 

London,  1850. 
Maspero,  G.    Histoire    Ancienne, 

etc.    Paris,  1876. 
Michaelis,  J.  D.     Die  Orientalische 

und      Extgetische     Bibliothek^ 

1771-93. 

„  Mosaisches  Recht. 

6  vols.    Frankfurt  a.  M.,  1775. 
Miller,  Hugh.  The  Testimony  of  the 

Rocks.    Edinburgh,  1856. 

„  Old  Red  Sandstone. 

Edinburgh,  1842. 
Mills'  Nablua  and  the  Modem  Sa- 
maritans.   London,  1864. 
kuir's  Life  of  Mahomet.    1  vol. 

London,  1877. 


Mtiller's,  B.,  Etymol.  WSrterbnch. 

Cothon. 
MUllor,  Max.    Chips  from  a  Ofrman 

Workshop,     4  vols.    London. 
,,  Science  of  Language, 

2  vols.    London. 
Nicholson,  Prof.  AUoyno.     Manual 

of  PaUenntology.   2ud  ed.  2  vols. 

8vo.    Ediubiirgh,  1879. 
Niemeyer.  CharakterinticderBibcl. 

6  vols.    Hallo,  1780. 
Nork.     Rabbinibche    Quellen,   etc. 

Leipzig,  1839. 
Kugeut,    Lord.     Lands    Classical 

and  Sacred.    London,  no  date. 
Orientalists,   Transactions  of  Con- 
gress of.    London,  1874. 
Pagniui.         I'hesaurus        Lingum 

SanctcB.    Fol.   1677. 
Palmer,    Major    H.    S.      Ancient 

History.     Sinai.      London,   no 

date. 
Palmer,  Capt.  G.     The  Migration 

from  Sliinar.    London,  1880. 
Palmer,  Prof.     The  Desert  of  the 

Exodus.    London,  1872. 
Pleyte.   Le  Papyrus  Rollin,  Paris, 

1868. 
Palestine  Fund  Reports,  1870-1880. 

London. 
Reusoh.    Bibel  und  Natur,    Frei- 
burg, 1862. 
Bawlinson,  Prof,  G.  Ancient  Mon- 
archies,    Vol.   i.     Babylon  and 

Assyria.    London,  1862. 

„        The  Origin  of  Nations. 

London,  no  date. 

„        Historical    Illustrations 

of  the  Old  Testament,    London, 

no  date. 
Bawlinson.    Morris  &  Smith's  Cu- 

neiform  Inscriptions  of   IVestem 

Asia.    4   vols,   folio.     London, 

1861-75. 
Bawlinson's    Herodotus.     4    vols. 

London. 
Records  of  the  Past,    Vols.  i.  to  xi. 

London,  v^.  d. 
Benan,  E.    Etudes  d' Histoire  Reli- 

gieuse.    Paris,  1863. 

„  Histoire  Ginirale  des 

Langues  Semitiques.  Paris,  1863 


\ii\i 


1 


m:'^ 


xu 


LIST   OF   AUTHORITIES. 


Biehm's  Handwdrterbuch  de$  Bibli- 

$chen  Alter timins.    Leipzig,  1877 

— (unfinished). 
Eobertson,  F.  W.     Notes  a/»  Gen- 
esis.   London,  1877. 
Bobinson's     Bib.    Researches    in 

Syria    and    Palestine.    3    vols. 

London,  1860. 
Bosenmiiller's  Handbuch  der  Bib. 

Alter thumskunde.    5  vols.  Leip- 

aig,  1825. 

„  Scholia     in     Vetus 

Test.  Lipsiae,  1798. 

„  Das  A  lie  und  Neue 

Morgenland.    6  vols.    Leipzig, 

1818. 
Bamage,  C.  T.,  Dr.    Bible  Echoes 

in  Ancient  Classics.   Edinburgh, 

1878. 
Schenkel's  Bibel  Lexicon.    5  vols. 

Leipzig,  1872. 
Schodler.    Das    Tiuch  der  Natur. 

2  vols.    Braunschweig,  1870. 
Bchrader,  E.     Die  Keilinschriften 

und  das  Alte  Testament.  Giessen, 
1872. 
Bouthall's  Recent  Origin  of  Man. 

Philadelphia,  U.  S.,  1875. 
Sepp.    Jerusalem  und  das  Heilige 
Land.  2  vols.  Scha£[hausen,1873. 
Smith,  G.     Chaldcean  Account  of 
Genesis.    London,  1876. 
„  Ancient    History^    As» 

London,  no  date. 

Ancie7it  History  ^  Baby- 
London,  no  date. 
„  History  of  Assurbani- 

pal.    London,  1871. 
Smith's,  Dr.  W.,  Diet,  of  the  Bible. 

3  vols.  London,  1860. 

„  Diet,  of  Geography   of 

the  Bible.   London,  1869. 

Boury.     Etudes  Historiques  sur  les 
Religions  dc  VAsie  Anterieure. 

Speaker*8,  The,  Commentary  :  Gen- 
esis, etc.    London,  1877. 

BtaiUey's    Sinai    and     Palestine. 
London,  1856. 

„        Jewish  Church,  London, 
1856. 

Stephen's  Incidents  and  Travels  in 
Egypt,  etc.    New  York,  1838. 


Syria. 
Ionia. 


Studien  und  Kritikeh,  1828  to  1874. 

Hamburg. 
Thomson,  W.  M.,  D.D.     The  Land 

and  The  Book.    London,  1863. 
Theile     und     Stier.     Polyglotten 

Bibel.     Bielefeld,  1863. 
Tiele.    Die  AssyriologiCf  etc,  etc, 

Leipzig,  1879. 
Tomkins,  H.  S.     Times  of  Abra- 

ham.    London. 
Tristram,  Canon.    Genesis  and  the 

Brickfields.   London,  1879. 

„        The  Land   of   Moab. 

London. 

„         The  Land  of  Israel, 

London,  1866. 

„        Nat.  Hit,t.  of  the  Bible. 

London,  1873. 
Uhlemann.    Israeliten  und  Hyksos 

in  Jigypten.     Leipzig,  1856. 
Vigouroux,L'Abb6.   La  Bible  et  les 

Dicouvertes  Modernes.    3   vols. 

Paris,  1879. 
Wallace.     The  Malay  Archipelago. 

2  vols.    London, 

„  Tropical    Nature,    etc, 

London. 
Weil.     The  Bible,  the  Koran,  and 

the  Talmud     London,  1846. 
Wellhausen.      Geschichte   Israel's, 

Bandi.    Berlin,  1878. 
Whately's    Miscellaneous    Essays, 

London,  1837. 
Wilkins,  Prof.  A.  S.    Phcnicia  and 

Israel.    London,  1871. 
Wilkinson's     Ancient    Egyptians. 

3  vols.    London,  1879. 
Wilton,  E.  M.  A.     The  Negeb,  or 

"  South  Country  "  of  Scripture, 

London,  1863. 
Winer's      Bib.      Realw'drterbuch. 

Leipzig,  no  date. 
Wiseman's      Connection     between 

Science  and  Revealed  Religion, 

2  vols.    London,  1849. 
Wood's  Shores  of  Lake  Aral.    8vo. 

London. 
Zockler.      Beziehungen     zwischen 

Tlieologie      und     Naturwissen- 

schaft.     3  vols. 
Zunz.     Die  Heilige  Schrift.    Ber- 
lin, 1856.  , 


fi,  1828  to  1874. 


CONTENTS. 


Times  of  Ahra- 


lealw'drterbuch. 


Schrift.    Ber- 


I.  Genesis. 
II.  Ancient  Ideas,  Sacred  and  Pbotank,  of  God  and  Natobi— a 

CONTBAST. 

III.  Ancient  Legends  of  Creation. 

IV.  The  Bible  and  Modern  Sciencb. 

V.  Jewish  Id^as  of  Nature  and  of  Creation. 
VI.  The  Age  of  the  World. 
VII.  Adam  and  Eve. 
VIII.  The  Story  of  Edbn. 
IX.  The  Antiquity  of  Maw. 
X.  The  Antiquity  and  Origin  of  Man. 
XI.  Origin  of  Man,  and  his  Primitive  Condition,  ktO. 
XII.  The  Descendants  of  Adam. 

XIII.  The  Flood. 

XIV.  The  Flood  concluded. 
XV.  After  the  Flood. 

XVI.  The  Table  of  Nations. 
XVII.  The  First  Glimpse  of  National  History. 
XVIII.  The  First  Beginnings  of  the  Hebrew  Natios^ 
XIX.  The  Migrations  of  Abraham. 
XX.  The  Friend  of  God. 
XXI.  Palestine  and  Egypt  in  Abraham's  Days. 
XXn.  Abbaham's  Second  Besidencb  in  Canaan. 

XXIII.  Isaac  and  his  Sons. 

XXIV.  Joseph. 


i 


I 


i  ; 


I  I 


LIST    OF   ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Map  of  the  World  by  Cosmas      •       •       • 
The  Heavens  and  Earth  of  Cosuas      •        • 
Egyptian  Goddess  and  Indian  God        •        • 
Sacred  Tree  and  Fioures      .        .        •        • 
Noah  in  the  Ark,  with  Figures  . 
Chart  op  the  World — Time  of  the  Hebrews 
Semitic  Strangers  in  Abraham's  Time  . 
Human  Sacrifice  in  Egypt     .... 

Beersheba       

Bachel's    Sepulchre      .        •        •        •        • 
Shepherd's  Befuge  Toweb    •        •        .        • 
The  White  Castle  of  Memphis,  Joseph's  Prison 
Egyptian  Bakinq 


tAoa 

•  112 

.  113 

.  120 

.  121 

.  196 

.  242 

360-61 

.  395 

.  397 

.  442 

.  444 

.  461 

.  466 


K.,_- 


HOURS   WITH    THE    BIBLE. 


CHAPTEE    I. 

GENESIS. 

THE  Hebrew  Scriptures  were  originally  grouped  into 
three  sections,  the  Law,  the  Prophets,  and  the 
remaining  miscellaneous  compositions ;  the  first  embrac- 
ing the  five  Books  of  Moses ;  the  second,  the  historical 
books,  from  Joshua  to  Second  Kings,  the  writings  of 
Isaiah,  Jeremiah,  and  Ezekiel,  and  the  twelve  Minor 
Prophets  ;  the  third  including  the  rest  of  the  canon. 

Of  these,  the  first  five  books,  or  The  Law,  were  always 
regarded  as  one  great  whole,  and  hence  are  constantly 
spoken  of  as  such  by  the  sacred  writers.  But  for  the 
present  we  have  to  do  only  with  the  opening  section. 

The  name  Genesis,  or  the  Beginning,  is  simply  the 
Greek  equivalent  for  the  first  word  in  the  Hebrew  Text, 
which,  after  having  been  from  time  immemorial  used  by 
the  Jews  as  a  title  for  the  book,  was  adopted  by  the 
translators  of  the  Sepfcuagint,  or  Greek  version  of  the  Old 
Testament,  begun  in  the  third  century  before  Christ. 

Aside  from  its  higher  claims  as  part  of  divine  Reve- 
lation, the  extreme  antiquity  of  Genesis  gives  it  a 
surpassing  value.     Its  composition  has  been  assigned  by 


If 


II 


!  ; 


»M 


IL^ 


2  GENESIS. 

the  Jews,  from  the  earliest  ages,  to  Moses,  and  modern 
controversy  has  done  nothing  to  shake  this  belief,  though 
it  has  showij  that  the  great  lawgiver  made  use,  as  might 
have  been  expected,  of  documents  ancient  even  in  his  day, 
and  lias,  perhaps,  pointed  out,  here  and  there,  minute 
additions  of  a  later  hand.  But  this  also  was  only  what 
must  naturally  have  happened,  for  the  sacred  books  would 
doubtless  be  annotated  and  revised  as  was  needed  in 
the  course  of  ages,  by  some  of  "  the  holy  men  of  old," 
in  the  schools  of  the  prophets,  "  who  spake  as  they  were 
moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost." 

As  a  whole,  Genesis  stands  at  the  head  of  the  literature 
of  the  world — the  very  oldest  book  now  in  existence. 
The  earliest  known  writings  that  compete  in  any  measure 
with  it  are  those  so  wonderfully  recovered  in  late  years 
from  the  ruins  of  Assyria  and  the  tombs  of  Egypt,  but 
neither  the  Euphrates  nor  the  Nile  has  given  us  anything 
that  will  compare  in  manifold  value,  far  less  in  spiritual 
grandeur,  with  this  Hebrew  relic.  Perhaps  the  very 
oldest  writing  extant  is  the  papyrus  known  as  the  In- 
structions of  Ptahhotep,  or  The  Proverbs  of  Aphobis,^  but 
it  is  only  a  string  of  platitudes,  often  trivial,  and  never 
rising  above  a  very  humble  level.  It  is  curious  and 
touching  to  read  in  it  a  lament  dating  from  the  days 
of  Abraham,  over  old  age,  as  every  way  miserable,  and 
there  is  shrewd  worldly  sense  as  well  as  kindness  in  such 
counsel  as — "  If  thou  be  wise  furnish  thy  house  well :  woo 
thy  wife  and  do  not  quarrel  with  her;  nourish  her; 
deck  her  out,  for  fine  dress  is  her  greatest  delight.  Per- 
fume her,  make  her  glad,  as  long  as  thou  livest :  she  ia 
a  blessing  which  her  possessor  should  treat  as  becomes 

*  It  has  been  translated  under  the  former  name  into  French 
by  M.  Ohabas ;  under  the  latter  into  English,  by  the  fiev. 
Dunbar  Heath.    Lauth  has  translated  it  into  German. 


GENESIS.  6 

his  own  standing.  Be  not  unkind  to  her.*'  But  no  one 
will  think  of  ranking  such  a  composition  with  Genesis. 
Nor  are  the  later  Egyptian  records  preserved  to  us  any 
more  worthy  of  being  so,  as  will  be  seen  hereafter.^ 

Assyria  has  bequeathed  us  in  the  clay  tablets  of  her 
Royal  Library  a  vast  collection  of  documents  copied  from 
others  of  a  date  at  least  as  early  as  that  of  Moses,  but 
they  are  valuable  only  for  their  illustrations  of  the  super- 
stitions, the  civilization,  and  the  life  of  a  remote  age,^  or 
for  their  incidental  corroborations  of  Scripture. 

The  design  of  Genesis  is,  indeed,  itself,  enough  to  show 
the  immeasurable  superiority  of  this  first  revealed  book 
to  all  other  remains  of  primeval  literature.  From  the 
opening  to  the  close  it  has  an  aim  which  sets  it  far  above 
all  uninspired  productions.  It  is  an  introduction  to  the 
history  of  the  dealings  of  God  with  man,  which  forms  the 
ruling  theme  of  the  whole  Scriptures. 

Human  interests  and  occupations  of  all  kinds  are 
touched  in  the  development  of  this  one  great  subject, 
but  they  are  noticed  only  as  they  bear  on  it,  and  always 
in  strict  subordination  to  it.  The  first  chapter  of  the 
Bible  prepares  the  way  for  it  by  revealing  the  supreme 
fact  that  there  is  but  One  Only  and  Living  God,  the  moral 
Governor  of  the  Universe  :  reigning  in  unquestioned 
majesty  over  all  things  ;  the  Creator  cf  the  heavens  and 
the  earth  and  the  God  of  the  spirits  of  all  flesh.  Then 
follows  the  sad  story  of  man's  fall  which  needs  Divine 


*  The  reader  will  find  illustrations  of  ancient  Egyptian  litera- 
ture copiously  given  in  Maspero's  Histoire  Ancienne. 

^  See  Tiele,  Die  Assyriologie  und  Hire  Ergehnisse  fur  die  Ver- 
gleichende  BeUgionsgeschichte,  passim.  Lenormant's  La  Magie 
chez  les  Ohaldeens ,  and  h\s  La  Divination,  etc.,  etc.  Paris,  1874 
and  1875.  Early  Babylonian  History,  by  G.  Smith.  Records  of 
the  Pastf  vol.  iii.  p.  5. 


GENESIS. 


intervention  to  secure  his  restoration,  and  thus  the  way 
is  opened  to  tell  the  story  of  that  heavenly  mediation  for 
our  good.  A  few  chapters  more  link  the  earlier  periods 
of  the  world  with  later  times,  and  bring  before  us  tho 
first  step  in  the  re-establishment  of  the  kingdom  of 
God  on  earth,  by  the  selection  of  the  family  of  Abraham 
as  the  depositary  of  the  true  religion,  for  future  ages, 
and  the  instrument  of  their  spiritual  education.  How 
the  narrative  henceforth  follows  on,  introducing  the 
successive  generations  of  the  patriarchs,  to  the  settle- 
ment of  their  posterity  in  Egypt;  we  all  know. 

It  throws  a  mysterious  grandeur  over  the  book  of 
Genesis  when  we  look  at  it  in  its  relations  to  Scripture 
as  a  whole.  Exodus  takes  up  the  narrative  of  the  chosen 
people  where  the  earlier  book  has  left  it;  Leviticus, 
Numbers,  Deuteronomy  and  Joshua  carry  it  on  to  the 
final  settlement  in  Canaan.  The  book  of  Judges  and 
those  that  follow  lead  us  through  eventful  centuries, 
echoing  with  the  psalms  and  thanksgivir  ;;s  of  the  faith- 
ful, but  also  with  the  denunciations  of  prophets,  till, 
with  Malachi,  the  canon  is  closed,  as  the  fulness  of  time 
approaches  for  the  final  development  of  God's  gracious 
purposes  of  mercy.  Springing  up  at  dista>nt  intervals 
through  more  than  a  thousand  years ;  written  in  widely 
diS"erent  states  of  society  and  culture ;  with  men  of  all 
ranks,  from  the  eastern  king  to  the  simple  herdsman, 
among  their  authors,  all  the  books  of  Scripture  are 
found  linked  to  each  other  in  a  mysterious  harmony  of 
tone  and  aim;  the  last  completing  what  all  the  rest 
have  slowly  advanced.  Genesis  is  thus  the  porch  of  the 
great  temple  of  Revelation,  leading,  step  by  step  to  the 
disclosure  of  Jesus  Christ  as  the  Lord  and  Head  of  the 
new  kingdom  of  God,  restored  by  Him  among  men,  after 
having  been  lost  in  Eden.     Scripture  proves  throughout 


GENESIS.  O 

to  bo  only  so  many  notes  in  a  Divine  linrmony  wliicli 
culminates  in  the  angel-song  over  Bethlehem.  What 
loss  than  Divine  inspiration  could  have  evolved  such 
unity  of  purpose  and  spirit  in  the  long  series  of  sacred 
writers,  no  one  of  whom  could  possibly  be  conscious  of 
the  part  he  was  being  made  to  take  in  the  development 
of  God's  ways  to  our  race  ?  * 

But  while  thus  unique  in  its  relation  to  the  history  of 
redemption,  Genesis  incidentally  yields  the  richest  attrac- 
tions in  subordinate  details.  It  gives  us  glimpses  of  an- 
cient life  more  than  a  thousand  years  before  Herodotus, 
"the  Father  of  History,"  wa"  born.*  The  plains  of 
Mesopotamia,  the  hills  and  uplands  of  Palestine,  the 
p.'istures  of  the  South,  and  the  banks  of  the  Nile,  in 
succession,  come  before  us,  with  their  varied  populations, 
customs,  and  productions.  We  wander  with  shepherd 
tribes  in  the  desert ;  see  the  town  life  of  the  ancient 
communities  of  Palestine,  and  the  court  life  of  Egypt  in 
the  opening  period  of  its  greatest  glory.  Nor  are  these 
notices  of  ages  so  remote,  of  doubtful  accuracy,  and  thus 
of  questionable  worth.  The  lengthened  references  to 
Egyptian  life  are  demonstrated  to  be  minutely  correct, 
by  the  evidence  of  the  monuments  and  documents  of 
these  early  days  which  Egypt  itself  has  bequeathed  us. 
The  glimpses  of  ancient  races  are  incidentally  corrobor- 
ated by  every  advance  of  knowledge  from  other  sources  ; 
the  pictures  of  primitive  shepherd  life  are  sustained  to 
the  full  by  the  unchanging  pastoral  customs  of  the  East, 
even  now.  Nor  is  the  history  given  us  in  Genesis  like 
the  pompous  inscriptions  of  equal  antiquity  left  in  Egypt 
or  Babylon.     Instead  of  lists  of  victories  and  sounding 

*  Ewald,  in  his  Ghristtis,  has  a  fine  passage  on  tliis. 
'  Herodotus  and  Nehemiah,  the  writer  of  the  last  hisLorical 
book  in  the  canon,  were  both  alive  in  B.C.  444. 


»l' 


[In 


'  w 


1^ 


I  1 


O  GENESIS. 

titles  of  kinofs,  we  liave  tlie  everyday  life  of  tho  popula- 
tions ;  the  light  and  shadow  of  hutnan  hopes  and  fears, 
the  flesh  and  blood  forms  of  beings  like  ourselves, 
though  separated  from  us  by  forty  centuries.  Abraham, 
Isaac,  and  Jacob,  and  a  crowd  of  other  personages  intro- 
duced, are  as  real  as  if  they  had  lived  but  yesterday. 

One  great  feature  of  Scripture  from  its  first  page  to 
its  last  should  endear  it,  not  only  to  the  professedly 
religious,  but  to  every  one  who  cares  for  the  welfare  of 
humanity  at  large.  It  is  the  characteristic  of  all  other 
writings  of  antiquity  that  they  utterly  fail  to  realize  the 
dignity  of  man,  as  man,  and  ignore  the  existence  of 
the  people,  except  as  a  mere  background  to  the  deeds 
and  glory  of  the  dignified  few.  In  Egypt  the  masses 
were  held  in  contempt  by  the  great,  as  tlio  "  stinking 
multitude,"  and  we  search  in  vain  in  Egyptian  inscrip- 
tions and  literature  for  any  generous  sentiment  towards 
them,  or  any  recognition  of  their  rights  or  importance  in 
the  State.  In  Asia,  from  the  remotest  times,  even  the 
high  officers  of  the  sovereign  have  been  content  to  call 
themselves  his  slaves.  It  has  been  for  him  to  command 
and  for  all  his  subjects  passively  to  obey  his  every 
caprice.  In  ancient  Greece  the  citizens  formed  a  privi- 
leged few, — the  mass  of  their  fellow-countrymen  counted 
for  nothing ;  and  it  was  the  same  in  Rome  till  citizenship 
was  extended  to  all  Italy,  in  B.C.  90,  after  the  Social 
War,  to  the  unspeakable  mortification  of  the  great  patri- 
cian party.  Thus,  it  marks  antiquity  every wliere,  that 
privilege  alone  conferred  nationality  in  any  true  sense, 
and  that  the  commonalty  at  large  were  treated  as  a  mere 
herd,  of  whom  no  notice  was  to  be  taken  as  having  any 
rights  in  the  State. 

In  Scripture,  however,  including  the  book  of  Genesis, 
there  breathes  a  higher  spirit  of  liberty  and  respect  to 


!^" JUBtlJl*WW  ■ 


GENESIS.  7 

man.  Instead  of  pfivinj^  pompous  recitals  of  the  deeds  of 
conquerors  and  kings,  it  follows  the  history  of  siinplo 
pntriarchs  and  tlicir  households.  Amidst  the  slavish 
splendours  of  l^j^'ypt  it  dwells  on  the  fortunes  of  an 
humble  shepherd  tribe.  That  there  be  loyalty  towards 
the  One  Living  God  is  enough  to  raise  even  the  exiled 
Jacob  to  a  prominence  in  it  that  is  not  assigned  to 
rank  or  power.  It  enters  the  shepherd's  tent ;  it  follows 
him  in  his  simple  occupations;  it  turns  aside  from  the 
palaces  of  Zoan  to  bend  its  regards  on  the  lowly  inmates 
of  the  Hebrew  .slave- quarter  around.  It  sees  no  charms 
in  the  merely  outward  and  accidental ;  the  spiritual  and 
essential  alone  are  valued.  If  these  be  found  on  a  throne, 
its  occupant  has  corresponding  notice,  but  if  they  have 
retired  to  the  tent  or  the  slave-hut  they  are  followed 
thither,  and  the  throne  is  passed  by,  to  reach  them. 

Scripture  necessarily  has  this  Divine,  all-embracing 
spirit  of  humanity,  as  the  great  record  of  the  establish- 
ment of  the  kingdom  of  God  on  earth.  Committed  to 
the  care  of  a  chosen  family,  the  progress  of  this  kingdom 
is  the  history  of  that  household  as  it  swells  to  a  tribe 
and  to  a  nation.  The  story  of  the  common  people  of  the 
chosen  race  is  thus  the  great  theme  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment. Genesis,  after  a  brief  introductory  glance  at 
truths  needful  to  lead  the  way  up  to  it,  devotes  itself  to 
this  humble  but  glorious  chronicle,  and  all  the  subsequent 
books  continue  it  to  its  culmination  in  Jesus  Christ. 

Respect  for  manhood,  as  such — involved  in  the  very 
conception  of  a  Divine  plan  of  Redemption — colours  -the 
whole  story  of  the  chosen  people.  From  the  first  they 
have  their  simple  patriarchal  constitution,  by  which  the 
community  at  large  is  represented  in  all  its  interests  by 
elders  chosen  from  its  own  members,  and  they  retain 
these  through  all  the  oppression  of  Egypt,  the  wander- 


'i 


■m 


t  I 


i  QKNESIS. 

ings  of  the  desert,  and  the  settled  life  of  Canaan,  till  the 
destruction  of  tho  nation  by  the  Romans.  Despotism 
never  extinguishes  this  vigt>rous  national  life.  At  times 
the  elders  are  made  tho  cluinnela  of  communication  be- 
tween higher  authorities  and  the  people;  then,  again, 
the  community  its(;lf  is  seen  gathered  in  a  vast  assembly, 
to  hear  and  decide  on  great  questions  directly,  but  in  all 
cases,  as  will  bo  seen  in  subsequent  pages,  popular 
liberty  is  respected,  and  tho  concurrence  of  tho  people 
as  a  whole  required  in  all  public  action.  Thus,  while  all 
the  world  besid<.vs  was  sunk  in  political  slavery,  the 
noblest  ideas  of  liberty  found  a  home  in  the  pages  of 
Scripture.  In  antiquity  these  fostered  a  magnilicent 
spirit  of  national  independence  which  made  the  Jew  in- 
vincible ;  for  though  he  might  be  overpowered,  ho  never 
submitted.  And  in  every  age  since,  they  have  kindled  the 
virtues  of  manhood  in  land  after  land ;  for  the  noblest 
inspirations  of  freedom  have  ever  been  found  among  the 
populations  which  have  drunk  in  most  of  the  spirit  of 
the  Bible.  It  has  been  the  charter  of  human  ri<jfhts 
from  the  remotest  ages,  and  it  still  silently  protests 
against  every  social  injustice  unC  oppression.  Even  in 
Genesis  the  lesson  is  emphatically  taught  that  all  men 
are  equal  before  God,  and  that  true  dignity  consists  not 
in  mere  outward  rank  or  illustrious  birth,  but  in  the 
higher  qualities  of  the  intellect  and  of  tho  heart. 

The  question  of  the  authorship  of  Genesis  and  tho 
other  books  of  the  Pentateuch^  has  been  fiercely  de- 
bated, and  it  has  even  been  made  a  question  of  orthodoxy 
to  believe  that  they  were  composed  by  Moses  in  the  exact; 
form  in  which  w^e  have  them.  But  a  little  reflection 
will  show  that  it  in  no  way  affects  their  sacred  authority 

*  The  word  Petitiiteiich  was  introduced  by  the  translutgjs  of  tho 
Bible  into  Greek.     It  means  **  the  Five  Books." 


0BNE8IS. 


9 


exact/ 

ction 

lority 

of  tho 


to  whomsoever  their  authorship  bo  ascribed;  for  that  of 
many  of  the  books  of  the  canon  is  unknown.  Noi  is  it 
wise  to  conclude  that  in  tho  lapso  of  ages  it  was  not  part 
of  the  Divine  plan  that  some  of  the  inspired  writei's 
should  be  led  to  fill  up  the  outline  of  any  saeivd  book  as 
the  requirements  of  titne  may  have  demanded,  or  to 
arran<^e  its  parts  as  might  be  ultimately  best.  To  invent 
a  hard  and  fast  theory  on  a  subject  so  utterly  beyond 
our  comprehension  as  the  composition  of  a  Revelation 
is  at  once  unwise  and  rash.  It  is  enough  for  us  that 
overwhelming  evidence  sustains  our  acceptance  of  all 
its  parts  as  the  inspired  word  of  God,  iu  the  form  in 
which  we  have  received  them. 

Looking  simply  at  Scripture  itself,  however,  it  seems 
impossible  to  escape  the  conclusion  that  Genesis  and  the 
other  books  of  "  the  Law "  were  the  work  of  Moses. 
He  may,  indeed,  have  been  helped  by  the  seventy  elders, 
as  the  Rabbis  assert  in  their  traditions ;  for  Ezra,  himself 
an  inspired  man,  speaks  of  their  having  been  received 
by  the  great  Lawgiver  from  God's  "  servants  the 
prophets,''  ^  but  the  fact  that  they  are  spoken  of  from 
Joshua  to  Daniel  and  even  Ezra,^  as  the  Book  of  the 
Law  of  Moses,  appears  to  assume  that  he  was  recognized 
as  their  author,  though  this  by  no  means  excludes  their 
revision  by  some  of  his  inspired  successors  at  a  later 
date.^  In  the  same  way,  they  are  quoted  in  the  New 
Testament  as  admittedly  his  work.*  The  fact  that  they 
are  spoken  of  in  some  passages  of  different  sacred  books 

*  Ezra  ix.  11. 

2  Josluia  viii.  31.  1  Kings  ii.  2.  2  Kings  xiv.  6.  2  Chron. 
xxiii.  18;  xxv.  4;  xxxiv.  14.  Ezra  iii.  2;  vii.  6.  Neh.  viii.  1. 
Dan.  xi.  11,  13. 

*  Hee  Vniliinger, art.  Pentateuch,  in Herzog's  Beat  Encyldopcidie. 

*  e.g.,  Miirk  xii.  26.  Luke  ii.  22  ;  xvi.  29;  xxiv.  27,  44.  John 
L17;vii.  23.    Acts  xiii.  39,  etc.,  etc. 


ill 


t ) 


I  1 


in 


0ENKSI8. 


by  various  names,  sncli  as  tho  Book  of  tlio  Law  of  God, 
the  Jiook  of  tho  Covunant,  or  Hiinply  the  Law,  ia  of  no 
wt'iglit  against  this,  for  wo  ourselves  often  uso  more 
nanu'S  than  ono  for  tho  samo  tliin*,'.  Nor  is  tho  intro- 
duction of  passages  such  as  that  respecting  tho  death  of 
!M()ses,  at  tho  close  of  Deuteronomy,  or  of  modifications  of 
tho  laws  given  in  earlier  books,  or  amplifications  of  tho 
narrative,  any  reason  for  assigning  the  authorship  to 
another  than  Moses,  since  it  is  willingly  granted  that 
an  inspired  successor  must  have  written  tho  notice  of 
his  death,  and  ho  himself  could  well  have  made  such 
alterations  in  tho  earlier  laws  as  we  find,  or  have  en- 
larged the  details  of  tho  narratives  by  additional  cir- 
cumstances.^ 

It  is  not,  however,  necessary  to  suppose  that  the  whole 
book  of  Genesis  is  an  original  composition  of  the  gre'  t 
lawgiver.  On  the  contrary,  ho  clearly  availed  himself  of 
existing  documents,  as  in  the  story  of  creation,  of  which 
a  first  account  extends  to  tho  third  verse  of  the  second 
chapter,  while  a  second  occupies  the  verses  that  follow. 
In  the  one  we  are  told  of  God  as  the  Creator;  in  the 
other  of  His  moral  government  of  the  world.  Even  tho 
name  by  which  He  is  made  known  is  changed,  for  in  the 
first  the  word  Elohim  is  used — a  name  for  the  Divine 
Being  simply  as  such;  while  in  the  second  He  is  revealed 
as  Jehovah  Elohim — marking  to  whom  the  great  name  of 
Elohim  is  to  be  given.^     There  is  no  mention  in  the  first 

*  Berthoau :  D.ie  Siehen  Gruppen  Mos.  Oesetze,  p.  19. — Eenan 
{Histoire  dcs  Langucs  Semitlqites,  p.  117)  quotes  Philo's  notice 
of  Moses  as  a  lawgiver,  rather  than  a  historian ;  bub  his  doing 
BO  weighs  nothing  against  the  fact,  which  Eenan  admits,  that  the 
Mosaic  authorship  was  an  established  opinion  in  Christ's  day — 
that  is,  immediately  after  Pliilo.     See  also  Rcnan's  Etudes,  p.  83. 

'  ???  (El)  is  part  of  various  early  names  of  mankind,  as  in 


GENESIS. 


11 


of  the  creation  of  woman,  or  of  tho  institution  of  iviW" 
riMjifo,  or  of  tho  moral  hiw  imposcil  on  tlio  nuwly  crciitcd, 
mid  on  tho  other  hand  tho  sabbath  is  iiiLroduccd  in  tlie 
lirat  and  not  in  tlio  second.  Moses  was  evidiMitly  inspiii'd 
to  supplement  tho  one  account  by  the  other,  and  lliua 
make  a  fuller  revelation,  apparently  from  two  primeval 
sources,  than  one  by  itself  would  have  furnished.  Ihit  it 
is  only  a  question  of  literary  interest,  at  best,  to  diseuss 
tho  extent  to  which  ho  may  have  been  divinely  led  to 
employ  materials  already  inviting  his  selection.  Some 
portions  ho  must  have  received  by  direct  inspiration ; 
others  mjiv  have  been  derived  from  earlier  documents  or 
even  traditions,  purified  from  whatever  was  unworthy; 
others  from  personal  knowledge.  In  any  case,  tho  book 
as  it  stands  is  to  ua  the  very  word  of  God,  speaking  as 
only  He  could,  through  His  servants,  to  mankind. 

Mchujael  (Gen.  iv.  18),  "Tho  Smitten  of  God."  It  was  also  tho 
riietiiciati  name  of  tho  Highest  God.  It  is  held  by  Gesoniua 
(Thesaurus,  i.  49),  to  mean  "  Might,"  as  opposed  to  tJ'iJ^  (Eiiosii) 
mati  as  "The  Weak  One,"  (Ewald's  Gesch.  des  Volkes  Isr.,  i.  3to 
Auf.,  p.  378).  Perhaps  "  I'iie  Tkrrok  Awakeneu  "  would  bu  tho 
full  idea  embodied  in  ?1^^  (Eloach),  the  sing,  of  Eloliirn.  Related 
etymologies  seem  to  include  this  as  connected  with  the  conception 
of  Might.  Eloliirn,  as  a  name  for  the  One  God,  is  peculiar  to  the 
Old  Testament  in  its  oldest  portions,  and  is  not  found  in  this  ii.so 
in  any  other  Semitic  language.  Various  theories  in  explanation 
of  the  plural  form  being  thus  used  have  been  advanced;  but  the 
simplest,  and  the  true  one,  appears  to  be,  that  it  is  employed 
as  an  intensive,  to  express  the  majesty  of  Him  to  whom  it 
is  applied,  as  a  plural  word  is  used  in  Hebrew  for  the  heavens, 
to  express  the  idea  of  their  immeasurable  greatness. — Dietrich : 
Ahhandlungen  »ur  Hebruischen  Grammatik  (1846),  p.  44,  compared 
with  p.  16  flf. 


/ 


i 


■;N1  : 
■  M  i 


CHAPTER  II. 

ANCIENT   IDEAS,    SACRED  AND    PROPANE,    OP   GOD  AND 
NATURE— A   CONTRAST. 

"  rjlHE  first  leaf  of  the  Mosaic  record,''  says  Jean 
-L  Paul,  "  has  more  weight  than  all  the  folios  of 
men  of  science  and  philosophers/*  And  he  is  right,  for 
we  owe  to  it  the  earliest  and  the  grandest  revelation  of 
that  first  principle  of  all  religion — the  existence,  the 
unity,  the  personality,  and  the  moral  government  of  God, 
It  is  in  keeping  with  the  whole  colour  of  Jewish 
thought  that  the  very  opening  of  its  literature  should 
be  thus  especially  occupied  with  such  truths,  for  the 
whole  history  of  the  nation  is  simply  that  of  its  religion. 
Other  races  have  chosen  as  their  part  a  political  career, 
or  pre-eminence  iu  art,  or  in  philosophical  speculation,  or 
in  social  development ;  but  from  first  to  last  the  intellect 
of  the  Hebrew  dwelt  supremely  on  the  matters  of  his 
faith.  He  never  aspired  to  take  a  place  among  the  great 
empires  of  antiquity,  and  has  left  no  record  of  political 
revolutions  efiected  by  his  conquests.  The  triumphs 
of  the  pencil  or  the  chisel  he  left  with  a  contemptuous 
indifierence,  to  Egypt,  or  Assyria,  or  Greece.  The  few 
great  efibrts  of  architecture  in  his  country  were  the  work 
of  foreigners  hired  to  erect  them.  The  civilization  of 
Babylon,  Assyria,  Egypt  or  Phenicia  never  took  root  in 
Palestine,  and  was,  indeed,  abhorred  by  the  strict  Jew 


I    I 


ANCIENT    IDEAS,    OP   GOD   AND   NATURE. 


IS 


as  connected  with  alien  races  whom  he  despised  as 
heathen.  The  seaports  of  his  country  were  left  to  otiier 
races,  and  commerce  on  a  great  scale  was  utterly  neglected, 
except  for  the  short  time  when  Solomon  himself  turned 
merchant,  and  sent  ships,  built  and  manned  by  Phenicians, 
on  trading  voyages. 

Nor  had  the  Jew  any  such  interest  in  religions  plii- 
losophy  as  has  marked  other  peoples.  The  Aryan  races, 
both  east  and  west,  might  tl  row  themselves  with  ardour 
into  the  high  questions  of  metaphysics  and  theology  , 
he  contented  himself  with  the  utterances  of  revelation. 
It  never  occurred  to  him  as  it  did  to  the  Hindoo  or 
the  Greek,  to  work  out  by  his  own  reason  the  myste- 
rious problems  of  nature — physical,  human,  or  divine. 
What  they  strove  to  think  out  for  themselves,  he  accepted 
as  first  truths,  communicated  to  liis  fatliers  by  the 
Almighty,  which  it  was  alike  idle  and  impious  to  discuss. 
Many,  no  doubt,  in  every  generation,  indifferently  illus- 
trated the  national  instinct  j  but  from  the  days  of  Abra- 
ham to  the  destruction  of  Israel  as  a  local  community, 
there  were  always  leading  spirits,  who,  by  their  intense 
fidelity  to  the  hereditary  spirit  of  their  race,  vindicated  its 
character  as  in  a  special  sense  the  people  of  God.  The 
world  may  have  inherited  no  advances  in  political  science 
from  the  Hebrew,  no  great  epic,  no  school  of  archi- 
tecture, no  high  lessons  in  philosophy,  no  wide  extension 
of  human  thought  or  knowledge  in  any  secular  direction ; 
but  he  has  given  it  its  religion.  To  other  races  we  owe 
the  splendid  inheritance  of  modern  civilization  and  secular 
culture,  but  the  religious  education  of  mankind  has  been 
the  gift  of  the  Jew  alone. 

The  account  of  creation  with  which  Genesis  opens 
illustrates  this  striking  fact.  Its  aim  throughout  is  to 
lead  from  nature  up  to  God,  and  in  this  it  strikes  the 


u 


ANCIENT  IDEAS;   SACKED  AND  PROFANB| 


keynote  of  all  that  remains  of  Hebrew  literature,  which 
is  now  comprised  in  iihe  narrow  limits  of  the  Bible. 

It  is  impossible  for  us,  with  our  hereditary  kno  ledgo 
of  the  Scriptures,  to  realize  the  greatness  of  the  aadition 
made  to  the  religious  knowledge  of  mankind  by  even 
the  first  chapter  of  Scripture.  Primeval  revelations  of 
God  had  everywhere  become  corrupted  in  the  days  of 
Moses.  The  all-embracing  heaven  had  itself  become 
divine  to  the  Aryan  nations,  in  their  native  seat  in 
Western  Central  Asia;  and  natural  appearances — the  sun, 
the  moon,  the  stars,  the  clouds,  the  dawn — had  gradually 
been  deified  as  its  children.  Transferring  to  their  religion 
the  material  conceptions  of  daily  life,  there  was  already  a 
Bride  of  Heaven,  sometimes  taking  form  as  the  Shadowy 
Night  that  divides  with  Him  the  rule  of  the  world,  and 
sometimes  appearing  as  Mother  Earth.^  In  India  and 
the  East,  this  gradually  developed  into  an  identification 
of  the  Divine  Being  with  nature.  All  we  see  or  are — the 
visible  universe — the  affections,  virtues,  or  vices ;  all  the 
spiritual  world  of  gods  and  genii  came  to  be  viewed 
as  only  manifestations  of  Brahma  under  multitudinous 
forms.  ^  In  Western  Asia  the  primitive  creed  sank  into 
an  idolatry  which  regarded  the  countless  powers  or  forces 
of  tae  universe  as  separately  divine.  Egypt,  indeed,  had 
still  a  secret  and  mysterious  doctrine  of  One  supreme 
God,  but  it  was  strangely  confused  by  polytheistic  con- 
ceptions. He  was,  moreover,  a  mere  abstraction,  related 
to  man  or  the  world  only  as  the  creator  of  the  gods,  who 
were  emanations  from  Himself.*  To  the  initiated  these 
might  be  but  names  of  different  manifestations  of  the  One 

*  Professor  Wilkins,  The  Aryan  Baces,  passim. 
^  Dillrnaim's  Genesis,  p.  7. 

■  Book  of  the  Dead,  quoted   in   Maspero's  Histoire  Ancienne, 
p.  28. 


OP  GOD  AND  NATURE — A  CONTRAST. 


15 


Snpvemo ;  but  to  the  multitude  they  formed  an  endless 
crowd  of  divinities.  A.mong  them,  the  sun,  under  various 
titles  was  the  object  of  the  highest  veueration  ;  but  by  a 
singular  perversion  of  the  religious  sense,  many  of  the 
lower  animals  were  also  worshipped  as  incarnations  of 
the  gods.  In  ancient  times  these  heavenly  beings  had 
dwelt  among  men  in  the  persons  of  the  god-kings,  but 
tliey  had  ceased  to  do  so  when  man  had  been  provided 
with  laws  and  rules  by  which  to  guide  himself.  From 
that  time,  they  had  veiled  themselves  in  the  bodies  of 
animals,  to  watch  the  course  of  the  world  without  taking 
part  in  it.  The  cat,  the  crocodile,  the  serpent,  were 
sacred  forms  into  which  they  transfused,  as  it  were, 
part  of  their  divinity.  The  jackal,  the  ibis,  the  ape,  and 
the  scarabseus  beetle  were  adored  over  p.ll  the  country. 
The  sparrow  hawk,  the  hippopotamus,  and  even  the 
serpent  were  locally  divine.  The  sacred  oxen  of  Helio- 
pohs  and  Memphis  were  especially  famous.  Grovelling 
homage  was  paid  to  these  strange  divinities.  They  were 
fed  in  costly  temples ;  had  numerous  and  splendid  priest- 
hoods; had  festivals  and  high  days,  were  mourned  by 
whole  districts,  and  in  some  cases  by  all  Egypt,  at  their 
death,  and  were  then  embalmed  and  had  public  funerals. 
To  show  disrespect  to  one  was  a  serious  crime;  to  injure 
or  kill  one  was  punishable  with  death.^  No  wonder  that 
Juvenal,  more  than  fifteen  hundred  years  after  Moses, 
ridicules  a  superstition  so  gross  and  repulsive. 

"  Who  knows  not."  he  asks,  "  what  kind  of  omens  the 
mad  Egyptian  worsuxps.  One  district  adores  a  crocodile, 
another  grows  pale  before  an  ibis  glutted  with  snakes. 
The  golden  image  of  the  sacred  ape  shines  afar.     .     .     . 


ncienne, 


^  See  the  story  of  Phanes,  in  Ebers'  Eine  JEgyptische  Kmiigs- 
tochter,  vol.  i.  p.  28  ff.  The  Greek  narrowly  escaped  death  ;  his 
slave  was  atoned  to  death  for  killing  a  cat. 


16 


ANCIENT   IDEAS^    SAORED    AND    PROFANE^ 


.'  ffl 


Here,  whole  towns  worship  cats ;  ^  liere,  fishes  of  the 
Nile ;  yonder,  a  dog.  .  .  .  It  is  a  crime  to  pull  or 
eat  a  leek  or  an  onion.  O,  holy  nation,  whose  gods  thus 
grow  in  gardens  !  ''  ^ 

Thus,  if  in  some  sens^.  it  was  still  truo  that  all  mtii 
admitted  that  there  were  gods,^  it  was  no  less  so  that 
their  conceptions  were  either  mere  shadowy  dreams,  or 
were  alike  degrading  to  man  and  to  the  objects  of  his 
worship. 

It  is  hard  to  carry  ourselves  back  to  the  infancy  of  the 
world  and  think  aright  of  the  childhood  of  the  human 
mind.  Men  felt  from  their  own  experience  that  motion 
and  power  were  the  signs  and  the  results  of  life,  and  took 
for  granted  that  all  force,  of  whatever  kind,  must  imply 
it.  Hence  the  sun,  the  moon,  and  the  stars,  which  they 
saw  moving  over  the  heavens,  and  whose  appearances  or 
absence  were  connected  with  the  natural  phenomena  of 
the  world,  were  fancied  to  be  the  intelligent  and  living 
causes  of  the  return  of  spring,  the  heat  nnd  splendour 
of  summer,  the  bounty  of  autumn,  and  the  sterility  of 
winter;  of  the  alternation  of  day  and  night;  the  fall  of 
the  rains  and  dews,  the  rise  of  rivers ;  and  of  the  recur- 
rence of  storms  or  of  sunny  skies.  But  in  his  childish 
awe  and  ignorance,  man  could  not  limit  his  reverence  to 
these  distant  and  splendid  objects.  The  mysterious  force 
which  swelled  the  bud  or  ripened  the  fruit ;  which  poured 
out  the  running  sti-eam  or  heaved  up  the  waves  of  the 
ocean ;  the  cloud  above,  and  the  wind  that  bore  it  along ; 
the  lofty  mountains  and  the  gloomy  valley  were  all  alike 
more  or  less  divine.*     The  simple    fancies    of   savage 

*  Emendation  of  Brotier.  ^  Juvenal,  Sat,  xv.  1-11. 

*  Cic,  Tusc.  Quces.f  i.  13. 

*  "Have you  read  in  one  of  our  most  recent  travellers,  the  story 
of  the  American  Indian  who  set  out  to  see  the  great  cataract  of 


OF  GOD  AND  NATURE — A  CONTRAST. 


17 


8  of  the 
)  pull  or 
ods  thus 

all  mtu 
,  so  that 
earns,  or 
ts  of  his 

jy  of  the 
le  human 
it  motion 
and  took 
ist  imply 
hich  they 
ranees  or 
omena  of 
id  living 
;plendour 
erility  of 
e  fall  of 
|he  recur- 
childish 
rence  to 
ous  force 
|h  poured 
s  of  the 
fc  along ; 
all  alike 


savage 


l-ll. 

the  story 
iataract  of 


tribes  at  the  present  day  were  then,  in  fact,  the  sober 
belief  of  all  races.,  Whatever  was  beyond  their  simple 
comprehension  was  ascribed  to  an  indwelling  spirit. 
Even  a  great  king  like  Xerxes,  in  the  fifth  century  before 
Christ,  could  not  think  of  the  seas  or  n'vers  he  had  to 
cross  as  other  than  living  beings,  whoso  favour  he  had 
to  propitiate,  or  whose  anger  he,  in  his  pride,  would  in- 
dignantly chastise.  The  Hellespont,  daring  to  break 
down  his  bridge  of  boats,  must  be  scourged  like  a  rebel- 
lious slave,  to  cow  it  into  subjection  for  the  future.^ 

No  wonder,  then,  that  antiquity  had  the  most  confused 
ideas  of  creation.  With  some,  matter  was  eternal  and 
all  that  is  had  resulted  from  the  chance  coming  together 
of  atoms :  with  others,  as  we  have  seen,  the  universe  was 
only  a  manifestation  of  the  Universal  Spirit,  God  being 
Matter,  and  matter  God,  or  rather  the  world  being  itself 
divine :  with  still  others  He  was  a  dreamy  abstraction, 
exercising  no  influence  on  man  or  nature,  and  alike 
beyond  our  conceptions  and  unfit  for  our  intelligent 
reverence.  Outside  the  Bible  the  knowledge  of  God 
had  perished  from  among  men. 

To  all  the  vague  and  dreamy  fancies  respecting  the 
Divine  Being  and  the  world  prevalent  in  his  day,  the 
simple  narrative  of  Moses  opposes  a  simple  but  sublime 
revelation,  which  bears  on  its  forehead  the  seal  of  the 
Living  God.  In  language  the  simplicity  of  which  befits 
the  remote  antiquity  in  which  it  was  uttered,  it  declares 

Niagara?  Already,  when  far  off,  the  sublime  sound  made  him 
fancy  he  heard  the  voice  of  the  great  Spirit.  When  he  came 
nearer  he  fell  down  and  prayed — not  from  slavish  terror  or  dull 
stupidity,  but  from  a  feeling  that  the  great  Spirit  must  be  near 
in  a  scene  so  wonderful  and  grand,  and  should  be  honoured  in 
simple  reverential  prayer, — the  best  offering  he  had  to  make."— 
11  eider's  Geist  der  Ebrdischen  Poesh,  vol.  i.  p.  47 

'  See  Grote's  Greece,  on  the  incident.  ~ 

VOL.  I.  C 


18 


ANCIENT   IDEAS^    SACRED  AND  PROFANE, 


:i 


8l      : 


'l ' 


the  absolute  and  eternal  distinction  between  the  creation 
and  the  Creator,  and  between  the  creature  and  Him  who 
formed  it.  The  heavens  and  the  earth  are  not  God, 
for  He  made  them;  neither  the  sun,  nor  the  moon, 
nor  the  stars  are  God,  nor  are  the  seas  or  the  count- 
less wonders,  animate  or  inanimate,  they  contain,  for 
He  has  spoken  them  all,  alike,  into  being.^  The  origin 
of  the  universe  had  been  ascribed  to  Chance  or  Fate, 
but  Moses  in  the  place  of  such  unmeaning  expres- 
sions of  atheism  reveals  a  Living,  Personal,  and  Only 
God.  Matter  had  been  supposed  to  be  eternal,  but  he 
discloses  its  creation  in  the  first  words  of  his  nari*ative : 
"In  the  beginning  God   created^  the  heavens  and  the      /- 

*  See  Eoberfcson's  Notes  on  Genesis,  p.  3.  "2-  i  ^  ^ 

2  "  Bara."  Of  this  word  Gesenius,  in  his  Thesaurus,  p.  357  6, 
says : — "  The  use  of  this  verb  in  Kal  (the  conjugal  ion  here  era- 
ployed)  is  entirely  different  from  its  primary  aignification  (to  cut, 
to  shape,  to  fashion),  and  is  used  rather  of  the  new  production  of 
a  thing  than  of  the  shaping  or  elaboration  of  existing  material. 
That  the  first  verse  of  Genesis  teaches  that  the  original  creation  of 
the  world  in  its  rude  and  chaotic  state  was  from  nothing,  while 
in  the  remaining  part  of  the  chapter  the  elaboration  and  distribu- 
tion of  the  matter  thus  created  is  taught,  the  connection  of  the 
whole  section  shows  sufficiently  clearly."  Aben  Ezra,  quoted  by 
Gesenius,  gives  the  same  opinion  in  his  commentary  on  chap. 
i.  ver.  1.  Miihiau  and  Volck,  in  the  new  (8th)  edition  of  Gesenius* 
Handworterbuch,  say  :  "  Bara  is  used  only  of  Divine  creation,  and 
never  with  an  accusative  of  the  material.**  Dillmann  {Genesis* 
p.  18),  says :  "  The  Hebrews  use  only  the  conjugation  Piel  (in- 
tensative)  in  speaking  of  human  'forming'  or  'shaping,'  while, 
on  the  other  hand,  they  use  only  Kal  in  speaking  of  creation  by 
God."  "There  is  thus,"  says  Ewald,  "a  designed  and  sharply 
marked  distinction  of  the  laborious  and  artificial  *  forming '  by 
man,  and  the  easy,  spontaneous  creation  of  anything  by  God. 
An  accusative  of  the  material  is  never  found  with  it  (Kal)  as 
with  other  words  of  forming  or  making."     Dillmann  indeed  will 

•  Kurzgefasstes  Exeg.  Handbuch  zum  alien  Testament* 


y 


OF   OOD   AITP  NATURE—A   CONTRAST. 

earth ; "  not  formed  or  fashioned  them  from  previously 
existing  materials  Wo  have  not,  therefore,  to  do  with 
a  mere  incomprehensible  abstraction  which  clouds  our 
comprehension,  but  with  a  Living  Being,  infinite  in  His 

hardly  grant  that  **  bara "  necessarily  involves  "  creation  from 
nothing,"  but  the  only  groiind  he  brings  forward  for  this  hesita- 
tion is  what  seems  to  me  the  incorrect  opinion  that  in  verse  27 
the  production  of  mankind  by  natural  generation  "is  traced  back 
to  a  *bcro*  of  God."  I  cannot  see  tluit  it  is  in  any  way  referred 
to.  Nor  is  there  more  weight  in  the  fact  that  '*  bara  "  is  at  times 
used  in  the  parallels  of  Hebrew  verse  along  with  the  moro 
common  words  of  an  allied  sense.  It  may  l)e  used  thus,  but 
tliey  are  never  nsed  in  the  special  applications  in  which  it  is 
exclusively  employed. 

Delitzsch  says  (Commcntar  uber  die  Genesis,  p.  91) : — "  The  word 
Bara,  in  its  etymology,  does  not  exclude  a  previous  material.  It 
has,  as  the  use  of  Piel  shows,  the  fundamental  idea  of  cutting  or 
hewing.  But  as  in  other  languages  words  wbich  define  creation 
by  God  have  the  same  etymolonical  idea  at  their  root,  so  Bara 
has  acquired  the  idiomatic  meaning  of  a  divine  creating,  which, 
whether  in  the  kingdom  of  nature,  or  of  history,  or  of  the  spirit, 
calls  into  being  thai^  which  hitherto  had  no  existence.  Bara  never 
appears  as  the  word  for  human  creations,  differing  in  this  from 
the  synonyms  *  asak,'  '  yatzar,'  '  yalad,'  which  are  used  both  of  men 
and  of  God — it  is  never  used  with  an  aciusative  of  the  material, 
and  even  from  this  it  follows  that  it  defines  the  divine  creative 
act  as  one  without  any  limitations,  and  its  result,  as  to  its  proper 
material, as  em iiely  new;  and  as  to  its  first  cause,  entirely  tho 
creation  of  divine  power."  See  also  Umbreit,  in  Studien  und 
Kritllien,  1866,  p  706.  Kalisch,  Genesis,  vol.  i.  p.  1,  says  :  "  God 
called  the  universe  into  being  out  of  nothing :  not  out  of  formless 
matter  coeval  in  existence  with  Himself."  Pagninus  (Thesaurus) 
has  the  same  detimtion;  "  Bara,"  he  says,  "  is  a  word  appropriate 
only  to  God,  as  the  Creator  out  of  nothing." 

Stuib,  in  Studien  und  KritiJcen,  1852,  p.  825,  uses  it  as  equi- 
valent to  calling  into  being  what  was  not  before.  The  words 
"host  of  them,"  chap.  ii.  1,  includes  all  the  inhabitants  of  the 
earth,  the  creatures  and  e^eu.  the  plants.  Gesenius,  Thee.,  p« 
1146. 


P*W"^»lw«WWii!WWWW 


'" 


I:    ')> 


)l 


4 


!      ', 


20 


ANCIENT   IDEAS^    BACKED   AND   PROFANE, 


power,  indeed,  but  bodied   forth   by   tbe   attributes   of 
Personality,  so  that  we  can  intelligently  worship  Him. 

Yet  Personality  merely  in  the  sense  of  self-conscious- 
ness and  will,  would  not  constitute  a  Being  fitted  to 
attract  us,  if  unaccompanied  with  the  attributes  of  a 
distinctively  moral  nature.  Mere  power  might  awe  and 
crush  us,  but  it  could  not  command  our  love,  or  the 
consent  of  our  moral  nature  to  its  requirements.  But 
the  conception  of  God  revealed  by  Moses  adds,  forthwith, 
all  the  special  characteristics  which  attract  the  reverence 
and  constrain  the  heart.  It  is  not  enough  for  a  true 
personality  that  there  be  self-consciousness,  for  one  might 
conceive,  as  the  poets  do,  of  the  clouds  or  the  moun- 
tains as  self-conscious.  Nor  is  the  addition  of  will  alone, 
enough,  for  even  the  lower  creatures  have  both  self- 
consciousness,  and  a  power  of  choice  and  purpose.  A 
moral  character  is  wanted  to  complete  a  personality  of 
the  highest  type,  and  this  also  we  find  in  the  Mosaic 
revelation  of  God.  The  creation  of  the  heavens  and  the 
earth,  and  each  utterance  of  an  Almighty  fiat,  imply  self- 
consciousness  and  will ;  but  there  is,  also,  throughout  the 
whole  narrative,  the  still  grander  disclosure  of  a  moral 
character,  in  the  Divine  approval  of  all  things  made,  as 
"good;"  in  the  beneficence  which  provides  for  the 
wants  and  happiness  of  all  living  things,  and,  above  all, 
in  the  requirements  from  mankind  of  obedience  to  a 
sovereign  standard  of  right,  in  the  will  of  a  Holy  and 
Benevolent  Creator. 

The  God  of  Moses  thus  stands  in  the  strongest  contrast 
with  all  conceptions  of  the  Divine  Being  attained  by 
unaided  reason.  He  is  not  only  all-powerful  and  all- 
wise,  but  He  is  the  God  of  love.  While  the  Creator  of 
all.  He  is.  Himself,  the  Uncreated,  and  as  such  Unchan^^ 
able.    He   is  subject  to  no   control  of  blind  Fate  or 


OP   GOD   AND   NATDBK — A    CuNTllAST. 


it 


Necessity,  but  absolutely  sovereign  :  confined  to  no  limits 
ot'  space,  but  present  through  all  His  works  ar  a  vvatclit'ul 
Providence.  Thus,  in  the  very  opening  of  Scripture  the 
conception  given  us  of  God  commands  our  worship  as 
the  highest  Ideal.  No  one  loftier  or  purer  can  ever 
challenge  our  homage,  for  it  is  instinctively  felt  that  it  is 
in  all  things  perfect.  There  is  no  attempt,  as  in  the 
religious  books  or  legends  of  other  races,  to  tell  the 
origin  of  the  Godhead.  His  existence  is  assumed  as  a 
first  truth.  The  Egyptian  theology,  amidst  which  Moses 
had  grown  up,  dwelt  on  the  birth  of  the  gods  from  Osiris, 
and  told  how  he,  the  sun,  brought  forth  the  seven  great 
planetary  gods,  and  then  the  twelve  humbler  gods  of 
the  signs  of  the  zodiac;  they,  in  their  turn,  produc- 
ing the  twenty-eight  gods  presiding  over  the  stations 
of  the  moon,  the  seventy-two  divine  companions  of  the 
sun,  and  other  deities.  Indian  theology  spoke  of  the 
universe  bringing  forth  first  water,  then  placing  in  it 
a  germ  which,  after  a  time,  became  a  great  egg,  shining 
with  golden  splendour,  in  which  there  came  into  existence 
Brail  ma,  the  father  of  all  creatures.  The  Greeks  con- 
structed genealogies  of  the  gods,  transferring  to  the 
heavens  the  whole  circle  of  human  experiences  and 
passions.  The  races  of  Western  Asia  laboriously 
stamped  on  their  clay  tablets  and  cylinders  the  legends  of 
their  greater  and  lesser  gods.  But  no  such  unworthy 
characteristics  deface  the  grand  sublimity  of  Scripture. 
From  the  midst  of  a  universal  corruption  of  religion,  its 
solitary  but  heavenly  voice  is  heard,  in  the  stillness  of 
the  very  morning  of  time,  proclaiming  a  God  who  had 
existed  from  all  eternity — *' before  the  mountains  were 
brought  forth,  and  before  the  earth  and  the  world  were 
formed  '^ — a  God  creating  all  things  by  the  word  of  His 
power,  and  at  the  same  time  One  ,to  whom  man  could 


1 


'} '] 


.i 

■   i 

j  ' 

■i 

1       '  : 
t         ■-  ' 

i 

1 

'    :■ 

il' 


22 


ANCIENT   IDEASj   SACRED  AND   PROFANE, 


lift  liis  eyes  and  direct  his  prayers;  in  the  coutomplation 
of  wliom  he  might  animace  his  hopes  and  forget  his 
sorrows;  in  the  holy  perfections  of  whom  he  could  feel 
that  he  enjoyed  the  sympathy  and  love  of  an  All-gracioua 
as  well  as  Almighty  Father. 

Thus  the  Hebrew  race  are  presented  in  their  earliest 
records  in  the  light  in  which  they  continued  to  be  dis- 
tinctly noted  through  all  their  history,  as  the  one  people 
of  God,  alone  of  all  the  nations  of  the  earth,  faithful 
to  H*m  as  a  whole,  through  all  their  vicissitudes.  As 
Moses  opens  the  sacred  writings  by  proclaiming  Him,  so 
the  Jew,  in  all  subsequent  genemtions,  has  continued  to 
witness  for  Him,  till,  from  the  household  of  Abraham, 
faitii  in  the  One  Only  Living  and  True  God  has  spread, 
through  Judaism,  Christianity,  and  Mahometanism  well 
nigh  over  the  earth. 

The  explanation  of  such  a  unique  fact  has  been  variously 
sought.  With  some  it  has  been  ascribed  to  a  fancied 
devotion  of  the  Semitic  nations  to  the  monotheistic 
idea,*  But  Max  Miiller,  a  scholar  biased  by  no  tlieo- 
logical  leanings,  has  shown  the  baselessness  of  this 
theory.  "  Can  it  be  said,''  he  asks,  "  that  a  monotheistic 
instinct  could  have  beem  implanted  in  all  those  nations 
which  adored  Elohim,  Jehovah  Sabaoth,  Moloch,  Nisroch, 
Rimmon,  Necho,  Dagon,  Ashtaroth,  Baal  or  Bel,  Baal- 
peor,  Beelzebub,  Ohemosh,  Milcom,  Adrammelech, 
Annamelech,  Nibbaz  and  Tartak,  Ashima,  Nergal,  Suc- 
coth-benoth,  the  sun,  the  moon,  the  planets,  and  all  the 
host  of  heaven  ?  ''  ^  Yet  all  these  divinities  were  wor- 
shipped by  Semitic  peoples. 

"  Nor  is  it  possible  to  explain  on  merely  historical 
grounds  how  the  Hebrews  first  obtained  and  so  persist- 

*  Benan:  Histoire  Generale  des  Langues  Semitiques,  p.  6. 

*  Mai'  Miiller.-  Chirps  from  a  German  Worlcshop,  vol.  i.  p.  345. 


OF  GOD  AND  NATURE — A  CONTRAST. 

ently  clun^  to  this  grand  first  truth.     Their  chronicles 
show  continual  hvpsos  into  idohitry,  and  yet   they  always 
recovered  themselves ;    till,  at  last,   after  a  bitter   dis- 
■pliuo    of  national  calai.iities,  they  finally  turned  with 
itlnisi.'istic  devotion  to  the  worship  of  Jehovah. 
"  IJoference  to  a  primitive  religious  instinct  in  mankind 
as  little  satisfactory;  'or  though  there  must  have  been 
Inch  an  intuitive  sentiment  in  the  earliest  meu  as  the 
)asis  of  their  future  idolatries,  it  could  only   have  im- 
)ressed  on  them  the  existence  of  some  Divine  Being,  but 
fn  no  degree  involved  the  conception  of  that  Being  as 
me  and  one  only,  but,  as  all  history  proves,  tended  to  the 
rery  opposite.      Nor   can  it    be  said  that  the  Hebrew 
[worked  out  the  great  truth  by  a  profound  philosophy,  for 
no  contrast  could  be  greater  between  the  Jewish  mind 
[and  that  of  other  nations  of   antiquity  sprung  from  a 
difi'erent  stock,  than  the  utter  absence  from  it  of  the  meta- 
physical speculations  in  which  other  races  delighted. 

"  Yet,  while  all  nations  over  the  earth  have  developed 
a  religious  tendency  which  acknowledged  a  higher  than 
human  power  in  the  universe,  Israel  is  the  only  one 
which  has  risen  to  the  grandeur  of  conceiving  this  power 
as  the  One,  Only,  Living  God."  No  wonder  that  he 
concludes,  "  If  we  are  asked  how  it  was  that  Abraham 
possessed  not  only  the  primitive  conception  of  the 
divinity,  as  He  had  revealed  Himself  to  all  mankind,  but 
passed,  through  the  denial  of  all  other  gods,  to  the  know- 
ledge of  the  One  God,  we  are  content  to  answer  that  it 
was  by  a  special  divine  revelation.'*  ^ 

God,  like  the  sun,  can  be  seen  only  by  His  own  light. 
The  first  chapter  of  Genesis,  in  itself,  stamps  the  canon 
which  it  opens  with  the  seal  of  inspiration. 

*  Max  Miiller,  Chi^s,  etc.,  vol.  i.  p.  372. 


CHAPTER  III. 

ANCIENT   LEGENDS   OP   CREATTON. 

THE  question  has  often  been  raised,  whence  Moses 
obtained  the  materials  from  which  his  account  of 
creation  was  composed.  Were  they  direct  communica- 
tions from  God,  or  does  he  describe,  as  some  have 
fancied,  a  series  of  visions  mysteriously  granted  him, 
or  were  there  any  pre-existing  documents  or  traditions, 
of  which  he  made  use,  separating,  in  doing  so,  the  true 
and  pure,  by  divine  inspiration,  from  the  errors  and 
debasements  which  had  added  themselves  to  them? 

The  two  earlier  theories  of  direct  Divine  communica- 
tion, and  of  the  presentation  of  a  series  of  visions  before 
the  mind  of  Moses,  of  which  the  lamented.  Hugh  Miller 
in  his  *'  Testimony  of  the  Rocks  "  was  perhaps  the  most 
recent  advocate,  have  within  the  l-st  few  years  been 
finally  made  untenable  by  the  discoveries  in  ancient 
Chaldean  literature,  as  deciphered  from  the  tablets  and 
cylinders  brought  from  the  long  buried  palaces  and 
public  buildings  of  Assyria. 

From  these  it  is  found  that  the  races  of  Western  Asia, 
which  embraced  shoots  of  the  Aryan,  Turanian,  and 
Semitic  stocks,^  had  traditions  of  the  creation  and  of 
the  great  early  events  in  the  history  of  the  world,  which 

*  "The  Aryan  Hace"  is  the  name  given  to  the  stock  from 


V 


ANCIENT   LEOENDR   Ot  CREATION. 


25 


had  come  down  to  them  from  long  prehistoric  ages. 
Whence  they  were  deriv^ed  at  first  it  is  impossible  to 
conjecture,  though  the  fact  tliat  the  tradition  of  the 
origin  of  the  world  accords  so  closely  with  the  narrative 
sanctioned  by  Divine  inspiration  seems  to  show  that  it 
must  have  been  an  echo  from  primitive  revelation,  per- 
haps in  the  garden  of  Eden.  The  glow  of  these  earliest 
days  lingered  in  the  sky  long  after  their  sun  had  set. 
That  such  distant  memories  should  have  reached  Moses  is 
easily  understood  when  we  recollect  that  Abraham,  tho 
father  of  the  Hebrew  race,  came  from  their  very  home 
in  Mesopotamia,  and  that  his  grandson  Jacob  returned 
thither,  and  after  spending  many  years  in  the  region  of 
the  Euphrates,  wandered  back  to  Canaan  and  thence  to 
Egypt,  the  land  of  Moses  and  the  Israelites. 

The  plains  of  Lower  Mesopotamia  had  long  been 
the  seat  of  an  ancient  people  when  the  forefathers  of 
Abraham  wandered  towards  them  from  the  south,  that 
is,  from  Arabia.  Known  to  us  as  Accadians,  and  doubt- 
less connected  with  the  Accad  mentioned  in  Genesis,^ 
they  had  a  literature  and  high  civilization  peculiar 
to  themselves.  Assyrian  tablets  and  cylinders  have 
thrown  a  strangely  full  light  over  this  early  nation. 
Their  language  may  be  compared  to  those  of  the  Tur- 
anian or  Turco-Tatar  stem,  and  seems  to  indicate  that 

which  tho  Hindus  were  an  eastern  offshoot,  and  the  Celtic, 
Italian,  Greek  and  German  peoples  a  western  branch. 

The  Turanian  languages  are  so  called  from  "Turan,"  the  Persian 
name  for  the  countries  north  of  Persia.  They  embrace  the 
northern  division,  which  includes  Mongol,  Turkish,  Hungarian 
and  other  Asiatic  languages,  and  the  southern,  which  is  illustrated 
by  the  Tamul  of  India,  the  Malay,  and  the  Polynesian. 

The  Semidc  languages  include  the  Chaldee  and  Syriac,  the 
Arabic  and  Ethiopic,  the  Hebrew^,  Phenician,  and  other  dialects 
of  ancient  Palestine.  '  Gen.  z.  10. 


26 


ANCIENT   LEGENDS  OF  CREATION. 


It 


the  lacos  themselves  had  sorae  connection.  Cohnnns  of 
Accadian,  or  early  Chaldaic,  as  it  is  sometimes  called,  are 
found  accompanied,  side  by  side,  by  Assyrian  words  to 
explain  them,  as  already  obsolete ;  but  inscriptions  and 
documents  in  Accadian  alone  have  also  come  down  to  us. 
To  this  long  vanished  people  was  due  the  invention  of 
the  strange  arrow-Loaded  writing  of  Babylonia,  which 
was  at  first  a  system  of  pictures  or  hieroglyphics,  but 
gradually  developed  itself  into  syllables,  though  without 
entirely  losing  its  primitive  characteristics.  At  the 
time  of  Abraham,  Ur  of  the  Chaldees;  Larsam,  the 
modern  Senkereh ;  Arku,  the  modern  Warka,  and  the 
Erech  of  the  Bible;  and  Babilu,  the  Scripture  Babel,  or 
Babylon,  had  already,  for  an  unknown  period,  been 
centres  of  government,  religious  worship,  and  general 
culture.  One  ancient  king  of  Babylon  is  named  in 
the  inscriptions  of  Asurbanipal  as  having  reigned  1635 
years  before  that  monarch's  conquest  of  Shushan,^  that  is, 
about  2280  years  before  Christ,  and  another,  Kudur- 
mabuk  is  recorded  as  Lord  of  Elam,  and  as  claiming 
dominion  over  the  whole  land  from  Syria  to  that  country, 
which  lay  on  the  east  of  the  Tigris ;  so  that  even  by  modern 
estimate  he  was  a  great  monarch.  The  exact  date  of 
these  early  rulers  cannot,  however,  as  yet,  be  definitely 
fixed  from  contemporary  records;  the  earliest  whose  exact 
period  has  reached  us,  excepting  from  the  allusion  in  the 
inscriptions  of  Asurbanipal,  being  contemporary  with 
Moses,  that  is,  about  B.C.  1475.^ 


*  Smith's  Early  Hisiovy  of  Balyhn.  "Records  of  the  Past,  vol.  iii. 
p.  8.  Sclirader  (art.  Babylonien,  in  Rielim's  Himdwdrterhnch), 
says:— 1635  before  Sennacherib,  which  would  raise  the  date  to 
about  B.C.  2400. 

2  Smith's  Early  History  of  Babylon.  Records  of  the  Past,  vol.  iii. 
p.  5    Schrader  says,  B.C.  1600. 


V    i  ' 


ANCIENT  LEGENDS  OF  CREATION. 


27 


So  strangely  remote,  however,  was  the  rise  of  this 
civilization,  that  all  the  great  temple- structures  of 
Babylonia  were  founded  by  kings  who  must  have  reigned 
earlier  than  the  sixteenth  century  before  Christ.  Bricks 
and  clay  tablets,  with  their  names,  and  short  inscriptions 
respecting  them,  have  been  found  in  the  ruins  of  their 
constructions,  the  vast  size  of  which  shows  the  great 
power  they  wielded.  Nor  was  their  empire  famous  only 
for  architecture.  The  Accadians  had  already  distin- 
guished themselves  by  careful  astronomical  observations 
and  calculations ;  had  a  carefully  graded  system  of 
weights  and  measures ;  a  money  system  skilfully  settled, 
and  a  literature  of  which  copious  remains  are  now  found 
in  European  museums,  embracing  works  on  geography, 
astrology,  mythology,  grammar,  and  mathematics ;  an 
epic  called  the  Descent  of  Istar  to  Hades ;  psalms  or 
hymns  to  the  gods,  curious  legends  of  gods  and  heroes, 
and  much  besides. 

Nor  were  the  civil  or  social  affairs  of  these  ancient 
communities  in  less  full  development.  Tablets  recording 
laws,  royal  commands,  and  government  despatches  aro 
intermixed  with  bills  of  merchants,  deeds  of  sale  oi  loan, 
and  banker's  transactions  and  receipts,  while  thousands  of 
beautifully  cngrsived  seals,  dating  as  remotely,  still  exist, 
to  attest  the  progress  made  in  one  at  least  of  the  arts 
in  these  early  ages. 

On  this  busy  scene  of  the  very  dawn  of  time  a  new 
people  after  a  while  appeared,  wandering  from  Arabia  to 
the  south  of  Babylonia,  and  settling  first  in  and  round 
Ur,  the  present  Mugheir,  in  the  delta  of  the  Euphrates. 
This  was  the  race  from  a  branch  of  which  Abraham 
was,  hereafter,  to  spring,  for  they  were  of  Semitic  stock. 
Steadily  fighting  their  way  north,  they  slowly  mastered 
the  Accadians   and   became  their  rulers ;  but  Ihe  con- 


i1 


28 


ANCIENT   LEGENDS   OV  CREATION. 


querors,  like  the  Eomans  by  the  Greeks  in  after  ages, 
were  erelong  in  tarn  subdued,  in  a  higher  sense,  by  the 
culture  which  they  found  existing  in  the  regions  they 
had  won.  Already  in  the  twentieth  century  before  Christ, 
Sargon  I.,  a  Semitic  king,^  after  takinf  Erech,  the 
present  Warka,  had  the  old  holy  books  of  the  Accadians 
copied  and  also  translated  into  Semitic — those  books, 
later  transcripts  of  which  compose  the  literary  treasures 
of  Assyria  which  we  now  prize  so  highly.* 

Traces  of  primitive. revelation  seem  still  to  have  lin- 
gered in  the  populations  to  which  the  Semitic  element 
was  thus  now  added.  The  name  of  Babylon,  or  rather 
Babel  itself,  means  the  Gate  of  El,  and  El,'  as  we  know, 
ifc>  the  early  Hebrew  name  for  God.  In  the  days  of  Abra- 
ham a  knowledge  of  Him  still  survived  even  as  far  off 
as  Palestine,  for  we  find  Melcbisedek  addressed  by  the 
patriarch,  and  spoken  of  in  the  inspired  narrative,  as  a 
priest  of  "  the  most  High  God,  the  Maker  *  of  heaven 
and  earth ; ''  and  the  king  of  the  Canaanitish  town  Gerar 
is  also  described  as  familiar  with  His  name.''  Yet,  far 
and  near,  this  last  reminiscence  of  Paradise  was  more  or 
less  corrupted  by  idolatrous  additions.  The  Accadians 
had  received  from  the  past,  accounts  of  Creation,  of  the 

*  Semitic  is  the  name  given  to  the  races  speaking  a  language 
aUicd  to  the  Hebrew  and  Arabic. 

2  Schrader,  art.  Bahylonien,  in  Riebm's  Handworterbuch. 

Maspero's  Histoire  Ancienne,  pp.  149, 152-166. 

Rawlinson's  Ancient  Monarchies,  vol.  i.  pp.  63-69.  Bawlinson 
gives  B.C.  2548  as  the  approximate  date  of  the  Semitic  invasion 
of  Accadia.  Maspero  and  others  give  B.C.  2000,  as  the  date  of 
Sargon  I. 

2  Sc  in  the  Assyrian  inscriptions,  but  the  sense  of  '*  confusion '' 
(Gen.  xi.  7)  is  also  justified  by  the  Syriac  and  Arabic. 

*  *' Possessor"  in  the  auihorized  version  should  be  translated 
*«  Maker.il    Gen.  xiv.  18-20.  •  Gen.  xx.  4. 


ANCIENT   LEGENDS  OF   CREATION. 


29 


Deluge,  and  of  other  great  events,  but  in  all  cases  they 
had  disfigured  them  by  heathen  corruptions.  Such  as  thuy 
were,  Abraham  must  have  been  familiar  with  them,  and 
through  him  and  his  descendants  they  would  reach  the 
dnys  of  Moses  and  become  known  also  to  him. 

In  these  primeval  traditions  as  they  have  come  down 
to  us  in  the  old  Chaldean  form,  we  find  coincidences  with 
tlic  sacred  narratives,  and  also  variations  from  them,  which 
indicate  that  while  W3  have  in  no  degree  discovered  the 
direct  sources  from  which  Moses  derived  his  accounts  of 
creation  and  the  early  history  of  the  world,  we  arc  pointed 
to  still  earlier  sources  common  to  both.  What  these 
were,  admits,  however,  of  only  one  answer.  What  else 
could  they  have  been  than  the  accounts  given  by  the 
common  father  of  Shem,  Ham,  and  Japhet,  before  the 
dispersion  of  mankjnd,  accounts  handed  thus  from  beyond 
the  Flood  as  an  heirloom  of  the  antediluvian  world  ?  They 
may  have  been  oral,  or  they  may  have  been  written,  for 
the  perfection  to  which  the  art  of  writing  had  arrived  so 
soon  after  Nimrod,  may  well  lead  us  to  belie^'c?  it  was  an 
art  transmitted  from  across  the  waters  of  the  Deluge.* 

The  old  Accadian  account  of  the  Creation,  so  strangely 
recovered,  is  intensely  interesting,  at  once  for  comparison 
and  contrast  with  that  of  Genesis.  Only  two  tablets,  out 
of  at  least  five,  have  as  yet  been  found,  and  both  of  these 
are  mutilated.     The  first  reads  thus,^ — 

When  the  upper  region  was  not  yet  called  Heaven, 
And  the  lower  regioi)  was  not  yet  called  Earth, 
And  the  abyss  of  Hades  had  not  yet  opened  its  arms  ; 
Then  the  chaos  of  waters  gave  birth  to  all  of  thom 

*  See  Genesis  and  the  Brickfirlds,  by  Canon  Tristram.  Also  an 
article  by  Riehm,  in  Siudien  wid  Krltiken  (1806),  p.  568. 

2  Translation  by  H.  F.  'i'albot,  Esq.  Transactions  of  Soe.  of 
Bib.  ArchcBology,  vol.  v.  p.  426. 


30 


ANCIENT   LEGENDS   OP   CREATION. 


And  the  waters  were  gathered  into  one  place. 

No  men  yet  dwelt  tof^ether  ;  no  animals  wandered  about: 

None  of  the  gods  had  yet  been  born. 

Their  names  were  not  spoken  :  their  attributes  were  nob  known i 

Then  the  eldest  of  the  gods, 

Lakhmu  and  Lakharau,  were  born 

And  grew  up    ,     .    . 

Assur  and  Kissur  were  born  next 

And  lived  through  long  periods. 

Anu    ... 

The  rest  of  the  tablet  is  lost.* 

Another  translation   made    by  the   late    Mr.  George 
Smith  ^  is  somewhat  different.     It  runs  thus — 

When  above  was  not  raised  the  heavens ; 

And  below  on  the  earth  a  plant  had  not  grown  up  ; 

The  abysses  also  had  not  broken  open  their  boundaries ; 

The  Chaos  (or  water)  Tiamat  was  the  producing  mother  of  the 

whole  of  them. 
Those  waters  at  the  beginring  were  ordained,  but 
A  tree  had  not  grown,  a  iiower  had  not  unfolded. 
When  the  gods  had  not  sprung  up,  any  one  of  them; 
A  plant  had  not  grown,  and  order  did  not  exist. 
Were  made  also  the  great  gods  ; 
The  gods  Lahmu  and  Lahamu  they  caused  to  come 
And  they  grew    ... 
The  gods  Sar  and  Kissar  were  made    ... 
A  course  of  days,  and  a  long  time  passed    •    •    • 
The  god  Anu    ... 
The  gods  Sar  and    ... 

The  fifth  tablet  reads  thus,  in  the  translation  of  Mr, 

Fox  Talbot— 

He  constructed  dwellings  for  the  great  r^ods. 

He  fixed  up  constellations,  whose  figures  were  like  animals. 

*  Trans,  of  Soc.  of  Bib.  ArchcBology,  vol.  v.  p.  426. 

2  Chaldean  Genesis,  p.  62.  The  Assyrians,  like  the  Hebrews, 
believed  that  the  heavens  were  first  created;  then  the  earth. 
The  words  for  chaos  in  Genesis  is  Tohu  va  Boha.  In  Assyrian 
the  god  of  chaos  is  Bahu.  n 


i 


i^i  I 


ANCIENT  LEGENDS  OP  CREATION. 


81 


He  made  the  year.     Into  four  quarters  he  divided  it. 

Twelve  months  he  established,  with  iheir  constjllations,  three  by 

three. 
And  for  the  diiya  of  the  year  he  appointed  festivals. 
He  n)ado  dwellings  for  tlie  phmets  :  t'oi-  their  rising  and  setting. 
And  that  noihing  should  go  amiss,  and  that  the  course  of  none 

should  be  retarded, 
He  placed  with  them  the  dweUings  of  Bel  and  Hea. 
He  opened  great  gates  on  every  side  : 

He  made  strong  the  portals,  on  the  left  hand  and  on  the  right. 
In  the  centre  he  placed  luminaries  ; 
The  moon  he  appointed  to  rule  the  night 
And  to  wander  through  the  night,  until  the  dawn  of  day. 
Every  month  without  fail  he  made  holy  assembly  days. 
In  the  beginning  of  the  month,  at  the  rising  of  the  night. 
It  shot  forth  its  horns  to  illuminate  the  heavens. 
On  the  seventh  day  he  appointed  a  holy  day. 
And  to  cease  from  all  business  he  commanded. 
Then  arose  the  Sun  on  the  horizon  of  heaven  in  (glory). 

Seven  more  lines  are  on  the  tablet,  but  unfortunately 
they  are  so  broken  as  to  be  untranslatable.  The  light 
shining  through  ages  in  the  others  thus  suddenly  goes 
out. 

In  George  Smith's  translation  ^  the  same  lines  run  as 
follows — 

It  was  delightful,  all  that  was  fixed  by  the  great  gods. 

Stars,  their  appearance  in  figures  of  animals  he  arranged. 

To  fix  the  years  through  the  observations  of  their  constellations, 

Twelve  months  (or  signs)  of  stars  in  three  rows  he  arranged, 

From  the  day  when  the  year  commences  unto  the  close. 

He  marked  the  positions  of  the  wandering  stars  (planets),  to  shino 

in    heir  courses. 
That  they  may  not  do  injury,  and  may  not  trouble  any  one, 
The  positions  of  the  gods  Bel  and  Hea  he  fixed  with  him.  * 

And  ho  opened  the  great  gates  in  the  darkness  shrouded; 
The  fastenings  were  strong  on  the  left  and  right. 
In  its  mass  {i.e.,  the  lower  chaos)  he  made  a  boiling, 

*  Smith's  Chaldean  Genesis,  p.  69. 


32 


ANCIENT    LEGENOS   OF   CREATION. 


The  god  Uru  (the  moon)  he  caused  to  rise  out,  the  night  he 

overshadowed, 
To  fix  it  also  for  the  light  of  the  night,  until  the  shining  of  the 

day, 
That  the  month  might  not  be  broken,  and  in  its  amount  be  regular. 
At  the  beginning  of  the  month,  at  the  rising  of  the  night 
His  horns  are  breaking  tlirongh  to  shine  on  the  heaven. 
On  the  seventh  day  to  a  circle  he  begins  to  swell 
And  stretches  towards  the  dawn  further. 
When  the  god  Shamas  (the  sun)  in  the  horizon  of  heaven,  in  the 

east, 

•  .    .    formed  beantifully, 

,    •    ,    to  the  orbit  Shamas  was  pefrfected 

•  ,    .    the  dawn  Shamas  should  change 
.    •    .        going  on  its  path. 

The  idea  of  the  Bible  account  of  Creation  having  been 
taken  from  such  sources  as  these  needs  no  refutation, 
for  the  contrast  between  them  and  it  is  at  once  apparent. 
Points  of  resemblance,  however,  show  that  both  had  a  com- 
mon origin,  though  the  Chaldean  story  had  sunk,  even  in 
thesa  early  ages,  almost  to  the  level  of  ordinary  heathen 
legends.  The  first  fragment  corresponds  in  its  subject 
to  the  first  two  verses  of  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis : 
"In  the  beginning  God  created  the  heaven  and  the 
earth.  And  the  earth  was  without  form  and  void ;  and 
darkness  was  upon  the  face  of  the  deep.  And  the  Spirit 
of  God  moved  upon  the  face  of  the  water?."  In  both 
accounts  the  present  order  of  things  rose  from  a  watery 
chaos, — the  Tehom  of  the  Scriptures,  the  Tihamti^  of  the 
legend, — the  same  word  being  thus  used  in  both  narra- 
tives for  the  primeval  condition  of  the  world.  But  here 
the  resemblance  ends.  In  the  legend  the  world  is  sup- 
posed to  be  created  from  pre-existent  matter,  not  as  in 
Scripture  out  of  nothing.  While  the  first  words  of 
Genesis  proclaim  the  One  Living  God  as  the  Creator  of 

^  Or,  Tiatnat. 


ANCIENT  LEGENDS   Of  CREATION. 


33 


even  in 


all  things  and  Himself  uncreated,  the  legend  has  no 
higher  conception  than  that  "  none  of  the  gods  had  yet 
been  born/'  and  that  the  "great  gods," — Lalimu  and 
Laharau,  male  and  female, — "  were  born  and  grew  up,'' 
to  be  followed  after  a  time  by  numerous  lesser  deities, 
their  offspring.  It  has  no  higher  thought  of  thu  Divine 
nature  than  to  transfer  to  it  the  difference  of  sexes,  and 
people  heaven  with  male  and  female  gods.  Tantu,  the 
sea,  and  Absu,  the  abyss,  beget  Mumrau,  that  is,  chaos. 
This  again  brings  forth  Lahmu  and  Lahamu,  the  male 
and  female  principles  of  force  or  growth :  from  Lahmu 
springs  Kissar,  the  lower  expanse ;  from  Lahamu,  Assur 
or  Sar,  the  upper  expanse ;  and  from  these  again  come 
Anu,  the  heaven,  Anatu,  the  earth,  Elu  or  Bel,  and  Beltis, 
while  the  earth  and  the  heaven  produce  the  planets, 
from  whom  again  spring  the  lower  gods.' 

Thus  the  whole  is  only  the  deification  of  the  diflferent 
parts  of  nature  in  an  ever  increasing  number. 

The  second  fragment  is  a  parallel  to  the  fourth  day  of 
creation :  "  And  God  said.  Let  there  be  lights  in  the  fir- 
mament of  the  heaven  to  divide  the  day  from  the  niglit ; 
and  let  them  be  for  signs,  and  for  seasons,  and  for  days, 
and  years ;  and  let  them  be  for  lights  in  the  firmament 
of  the  heaven  to  give  light  upon  the  earth :  and  it  was 
so.  And  God  made  two  great  lights ;  the  greater  light 
to  rule  the  day,  and  the  lesser  light  to  rule  the  night ; 
He  made  the  stars  also.  And  God  set  them  in  the  firma- 
ment of  the  heaven  to  give  light  upon  the  earth,  and 
to  rule  over  the  day  and  over  the  night,  and  to  divide 
the  light  from  the  darkness ;  and  God  saw  that  it  was 
good.  And  the  evening  and  the  morning  were  the  fourth 
day." 

As  the  first  tablet  thus  corresponded  to  the  first  and 
*  Smith's  Chaldean  Genesis,  p.  60. 

VOL.   I.  P 


m 


34. 


ANCIENT   LEGENDS   OP   CREATION. 


III! 


\i 


second  verses  of  Genesis,  and  the  fifth  to  the  fourth  day^ 
frngmonts  left  of  what  seems  to  have  been  the  seventh 
speak  of  the  acts  of  the  sixth  day.  Hence  the  legend 
appears  to  have  resembled  the  Scripture  narrative  in 
the  division  of  creation  into  the  work  of  successive 
days,  while  in  Mr.  Talbot's  translation  the  seventh,  in 
the  legend  as  in  Scripture,  is  "  appointed  a  holy  day " 
on  which  all  labour  was  commanded  to  cease.  In  Mr. 
Smith's  translation,  again,  the  successive  stages  of 
creation  would  seem,  in  the  legend,  as  in  Scriptu.-e,  to 
have  been  pronounced  good.  In  the  former,  however, 
instead  of  the  simple  statement  that  uhe  ?avenly  bodies 
were  set  "  as  lights  in  the  firmament,"  we  are  told  that 
the  stars  were  arranged  in  oonstellations,  vith  the  figure 
of  animals  a  reference  to  the  astronomical  fancieo  of  the 
signs  of  the  zodiac ;  but  both  agree  that  they  were  de« 
signed  for  marks  of  the  seasons  and  measures  of  time. ' 
In  the  belief  that  the  planets  were  livjng  beings,  the 
Chaldean  account  ascribes  palaces  to  them,  but  as  they 
might  wander  from  their  courses,  the  gods  Bel  and  Hed 
were  set  to  watch  over  them  and  keep  them  from  such  a 
misfortune.  The  ninth  line  of  the  tablet,  with  true 
primitive  simplicity,  speaks  of  great  gates  fixed  on  the 
left  hand  and  the  right,  through  which, perhaps,  the  lumin- 
aries are  to  pass  at  rising  and  setting.  In  the  eleventh 
line  the  ditficulties  of  translation  are  well  shown,  for 
while  Mr.  Smith  translates  it,  "  In  its  mass  (the  lower 
chaos)  he  made  a  boiling,"  Mr.  Talbot  renders  it,  •'  In 
the  centre  he  placed  luminaries,''  and  this  being  the  later 
version  is  probably  the  more  correct.  The  creation  of 
the  moon  precedes  that  of  the  sun,  and  the  former,  of 
wliich  alone  the  tablet  gives  a  complete  account,  is  de- 
scribed as  intended  to  rule  the  night  and  to  fix  the  holy 
assembly  days  of  each  month.  \ 


ANCIENT   LEGENDS    OF    CREATION. 


35 


The  oiily  otliev  frajn^monts  of  the  logrnd  as  j-ot  fomul  is 
part  of  the  sovcutli  tablet,  and  is  translated  as  follows 
by  Mr.  Smith : — 

When  the  pods  in  their  assembly  had  created    .    • 

Were  deli<;htlul  (good)  the  .strong  monsters     .     .     . 

Cattle  of  the  field,  beasts  of  the  field,  and  creeping  things  of  tho 

field    .    . 
They  fixed  for  the  living  creatures     .    . 

.    .    cattle  and  creeping  things  of  the  city  they  fixed  to    .     . 
,    .    the  assembly  of  the  creeping  things,  the  whole  which  were 

created 
,    .    wliich  in  the  assembly  of  my  family  (that  of  the  god  Assur, 

the  heaven)    .     .     , 
.    .    and  tho  god  Nin-si-ku  (the  lord  of  the  noble  face)  caused  to 

be  two    .     . 
.    ,    the  assembly  of  the  creeping  things  he  caused  to  go    .    .> 

This  fragment  corresponds  to  the  sixth  day  of  creation: 
**And  God  said,  Let  tho  earth  bring  forth  the  living 
creature  after  his  kind,  cattle  and  creeping  thing,  and 
beast  of  the  earth  after  his  kind  :  and  it  was  so.  And 
God  made  the  beast  of  the  earth  after  his  kind,  and 
cattle  of  their  kind,  and  everything  that  creepetli  npon 
the  earth  after  his  kind :  and  God  saw  that  it  was  good." 
Possibly  the  allusion  in  the  eighth  line  to  "  the  two  "  is 
to  the  first  man  and  woman  but  if  so  there  is  notliiug 
more  recovered  respecting  them. 

Such  is  a  complete  copy  of  the  fragments  of  this  early 
literature  which  so  strangely  illustrates  tho  Scripture 
version  of  creaticn.  The  resemblances  and  the  varia- 
tions speak  for  liemselves,  leaving  the  immeasurable 
superiority  of  the  narrative  of  Moses  beyond  comparison. 
The  Chaldean  account  has,  at  most,  only  here  and  there 
some  traces  of  the  grand  simplicity  which  characterises 

*  Smith's  Chaldean  Genesis,  p.  77. 


ANCIENT    LEGENDS   OF   CREATION. 


that  of  Scripture  throughout.     At  the  best,  it  glows  onlj 
with  a  darkonod  light : — 

".    .    .    As  when  tho  sun  new  risen 
LookH  through  tho  horizontal  misty  air, 
Shorn  of  his  beams," — 

while  the  Bible  story  is  like  the  light  of  a  morning 
without  clouds.  In  each,  the  brightness  must  needs  have 
come  from  the  same  holy  source ;  but  in  the  one  it  shines 
clear;  in  the  other,  it  struggles  through  mists  and  clouds. 
One  important  bearing  of  these  old  legends  must  not, 
however,  be  overlooked.  It  has  been  lattorly  accepted 
as  a  recognised  peculiarity  of  the  early  chapters  of 
Genesis,  that  they  consist  of  separate  and  independent 
documents,  marked  by  the  use  of  the  name  Elohim  for 
God  in  the  one  and  Jehovah  in  the  other.  The  first 
chapter  and  the  first  three  verses  of  chapter  ii.  are 
attributed  to  the  "  Elohist "  ;  the  rest  of  chapter  ii.  and 
also  chapter  iii.  are  ascribed  to  the  "  Jehovist,"  and  are 
held  to  be  a  second  account  of  creation.  But  the 
Assyrian  tablets  contain  not  only  the  "  Elohist's  "  account 
of  the  six  days,  but  also  that  of  the  fall  of  man,  by  the 
"  Jehovist.'*  The  story  of  Genesis  thus  existed,  before 
Moses,  in  its  completeness,  both  as  a  whole  and  in  detail, 
and  even  in  the  order  of  its  incidents ;  the  two  parts 
which  critics  propose  to  regard  as  independent  and  separ- 
ate, forming  a  single  connected  and  consecutive  narrative. 
It  would  indeed  argue  nothing  against  the  Mosaic  author- 
ship of  the  sacred  book  if  he  had  used  different  sources, 
under  Divine  guidance,  but  it  seems  at  least  worthy  of 
notice  that  the  mere  change  of  the  Divine  name  does  not 
seem  to  prove  that  he  did  so. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


THR    BTBLB   AND    MODERN    SCIENCK. 

A  LIST  of  tliG  treatises  published  even  within  the  last 
fifty  years  on  the  relation  of  the  Bible  to  Modern 
Science  would  be  a  long  one.  Kleo,  de  Luc,  de  Serres, 
de  Rougemont,  Hugh  Miller,  Chullis,  Dawson,  Waring- 
ton,  Rorison,  McCauslaud,  McCauI,  Fairholme,  Pfaff, 
Bohner,  Lange,  Ebrard,  Delitzsch,  Keerl,  Pianciani, 
Reusch,  Schrader,  Riehm  and  Godet  are  only  a  few  of 
the  able  writers  attracted  to  this  subject,  each  with  a 
fresh  theory  more  or  less  differing  from  those  of  all  be- 
fore him. 

^^he  zeal  to  defend  the  Word  of  God  from  all  hostile 
attacks  is  a  noble  one,  but  the  history  of  the  past  is  a 
continuous  lesson  of  the  supreme  importance  that  it  be 
a  zeal  according  to  knowledge.  Every  great  discovery 
in  science  has,  in  turn,  been  viewed  with  suspicion  by 
worthy  but  mistaken  theologians,  and  every  error  in 
physical  science,  now  exploded,  has  been  vindicated  by 
whal  was  held  at  the  time  to  be  the  voice  of  Scripture. 
Augustine  denounced  the  idea  of  there  being  "antipodes, 
or  men  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  earth,  with  their  feet' 
opposite  our  feet,"  as  "  on  no  account  to  be  believed," 
since  it  would  contradict  Scripture.^     The  roundness  of 

*  Aug.,  De  Civitate  Dei,  lib.  xvi.  c.  ix. 


38 


THE   BIDLE   AND   UODERN   SCIENCI. 


tho  earth  was  thouplifc  to  bo  satisfactorily  disproved  by 
the  text  wliicli  speaks  of  tlio  heaven  beinj?  stretched  out 
like  a  curtain.^  Gnlilco  was  forced  to  sign  a  statement 
that  "  tho  proposition  that  tho  sun  is  tho  centre  of  tho 
universe  and  immoveable  from  its  place,  is  absurd,  philo- 
sophically false,  and  formally  heretical,  because  it  is 
expressly  contrary  to  Scripture,"  and  that  "  the  propo- 
sition that  tho  earth  is  not  the  centre  of  the  universe, 
nor  immoveable,  but  that  it  moves,  and  also  with  a 
diurnal  motion,  is  absurd,  philosophically  false,  and  at 
least  erroneous  in  faith."  ^  Did  not  the  Bible  say  that 
tho  world  was  established  that  it  cannot  he  moved  ? ' 
Even  so  acute  a  mind  as  that  of  Calvin  urged  that  this 
text  proved  conclusively  that  tho  earth  is  at  rest  in  the 
heavens,  and  that  the  sun  moves  round  it."*  No**  were 
other  passages  apparently  less  decided.  Was  it  not 
written,  "  God  laid  the  foundations  of  thi  earth,  that  it 
should  not  ha  removed  for  ever."  "  The  ea  'th  ahideth  for 
ever."  Was  it  not  clearly  taught  that  tho  sun  moved, 
not  the  earth,  by  such  language  as,  *'  In  them  hath  He 
set  a  tabernacle  for  the  sun,  which  is  as  a  bridegroom 
coming  out  of  his  chamber,  and  rejoiceth  as  a  strong  man 
to  run  a  race.  His  goinrj  forth  is  from  the  end  of  the 
heaven,  and  his  circuit  unto  the  end  thereof."  "  The  sun 
also  arisethj  and  the  sun  goeth  down,  and  hastcth  to  the 
place  whence  he  arose,**  ^  Columbus  was  assailed  with 
quotations  from  the  book  of  Genesis,  the  Psalms  of  David, 
the  Prophets,  the  Epistles,  and  the  Gospels,  to  prove 
the  impiety  of  his  belief  in  the  existence  of  America.  * 
,     The  mistake  in  such  cases  was  that  men  wont  with 

• 

'  Ps.  civ.  2.  2  Quoted  in  Essays  and  Bevicws,  p.  208. 

■  Ps.  xciii.  1.  *  Calvin,  On  the  Fsalms,  on  Ps.  xciii.  1. 

•  Pti.  civ.  5.     Eccles.  i.  4.     Ps.  xix.  4-6.     Eccles.  i.  6. 

•  Irving's  Columbus,  vol,  i.  p.  46. 


THE    UIULR   AND    MODERN    SCIENCE. 


39 


their  prooonccivcd  ideas  to  the  Bible,  and  interpreted  it 
BO  as  to  support  tlietn.  Instead  of  takin«^  the  oidy  safe 
course)  in  reference  to  the  phenomena  of  nature,  of  draw- 
iuff  tlieir  conehisions  from  the  patient  and  wido  observa- 
tion of  facts,  they  accepted  their  lii^reditary  notions  aa 
infallibly  ri^-ht,  and  read  Scripture  by  their  light. 

Nothing  can  bo  more  certain  than  that  the  truths 
prochiiiiied,  on  sufficient  evidence,  in  nature,  are  as  much 
a  revelation,  in  their  sphere,  of  the  ways  of  God,  as  the 
higher  disclosures  of  tho  Bible.  The  records  of  the 
marble  tablets  of  the  hills  are  traced  by  tho  finger  of  tlie 
Almighty  aa  truly  as  were  the  characters  on  tho  tables 
of  Sinai.  To  reject  the  witness  of  tho  skies  or  earth,  or 
to  refuse  their  story  of  His  doings,  is  no  less  to  refuse 
"  Ilim  that  speaks  from  heaven  "  than  if  wo  turned  away 
from  the  revelations  of  His  written  Word.  Nor  is  it  to 
be  forgotten  that  a  truth  of  natural  science,  sufficiently 
established,  is  henceforth  beyond  controversy,  and  can- 
not be  impugned  by  any  supposed  meaning  we  may 
attach  to  particular  texts.  The  sun,  for  example,  is  vir- 
tually at  rest,  and  the  earth  moves,  notwithstanding  any 
array  of  verses  our  ancestors  brought  to  disprove  it. 

It  is  of  supreme  importance,  moreover,  that  we  demand 
no  more  from  Scripture  than  God  intended  it  to  yield. 
It  was  given  to  reveal  Him  to  us  and  to  make  known 
His  laws  and  will  for  our  spiritual  guidance,  but  not  to 
teach  us  lessons  in  natural  science.  To  expect  them  is 
to  anticipate  disappointment. 

A  little  consideration  will,  in  fact,  make  it  evident 
that  the  sacred  books  could  only  express  themselves 
according  to  natural  appearances,  and  not  in  scientific 
terms,  if  they  were  to  bo  understood  in  any  age  by  the 
mass  of  men.  We  stand,  even  now,  at  tho  threshold  of 
the  secrets  of  nature,  and  habitually  use  language  based 


J 


ii;= 


40 


THE   BIBLE   AND   MODERN    SCIENCE. 


'I 
ij 


I'ii, 


:  1 


\: 


on  the  unscientific  teaching  of  the  senses.  The  ends  of 
the  earth — the  rising  and  the  setting  of  the  sun — the 
overarching  skies — are  still  familiar  expressions,  but  are, 
of  course,  incorrect.  If  forced  to  lay  them  aside  it 
would  be  hard  to  replace  them  by  intelligible  phrases 
which  would  be  scientifically  blameless.  But,  fifteen 
centuries  before  Christ,  that  is,  when  Moses  lived,  the 
language  of  natural  appearances  must  have  been  uni- 
versal, for  science  was  as  yet  unborn.  To  use  it  was  to 
employ  what  alone  was  then  understood,  or  would  be 
continuously  intelligible  in  every  future  age,  for  no  other 
mode  of  expressing  physical  truth  would  even  now  suit 
the  mass  of  mankind. 

Nor  would  it  have  been  enough  had  Moses  and  the 
other  sacrvid  writers  used  scientific  language  suited  to 
the  present  day.  If  they  used  such  language  at  all,  they 
must  have  done  so  with  such  exactness  as  to  anticipate 
all  the  discoveries  Of  the  remotest  future,  and  thus  some 
texts  would  to  the  end  of  time  have  seemed  as  incor- 
rect, from  our  ignorance,  as  others,  written  according  to 
natural  appearances,  are  foolishly  said  to  be,  from  our 
partial  scientific  attainments. 

It  is  not  the  object  of  Scripture,  moreover,  to  reveal 
what  we  may  ourselves  discover,  and  it  woa^d  have  per- 
manently enfeebled  the  mind  of  the  race  if  the  stimulus 
of  research  had  been  rendered  unnepossary.  Besides, 
we  can  neither  receive  nor  utilize  natural  knowledge 
without  a  previous  development  and  training  of  the 
faculties,  only  possible  by  the  phenomena  of  nature 
being  left  fcr  our  own  investigation.  Great  discoveries 
can  be  recognised  as  such  only  if  the  time  be  ripe  for 
them,  nor  is  an'  decisive  step  in  intellectual  advance 
more  than  the  mere  completion  of  a  progress  stretching 
through  all  the  past     What  any  age  does  or  thinks  is 


THE    BIBLE   AND    MODERN    SCIENCE. 


41 


but  the  development  of  all  that  has  been  done  and 
thought  from  the  beginning.  The  connection  of  the 
sciences  involves  an  advance  in  all,  to  make  use  of  a 
further  advance  in  any.  How  many  links  must  there 
have  been  in  the  chain  that  led  ultiraat<^ly  to  the  dis- 
covery of  the  true  motions  of  the  heavens?  Egypt, 
Chaldea,  Greece,  Rome,  ard  the  Middle  Ages  had  all 
contributed,  whether  by  their  errors  or  discoveries,  to  the 
conclusions  on  which  Copernicus  based  the  theory  ulti- 
mately proved  to  be  the  true  one.  We  cannot  force 
unnaturally  the  education  of  mankind  any  more  than 
that  of  an  individual  mind.  Antiquity  abounds  with 
approaches  to  great  discoveries  which,  after  all,  were  not 
made,  because  the  world  was  not  ripe  for  then;.  Printing 
was  all  but  discovered  in  Babylonia,  where  the  habit  of 
stamping  clay  tablets  seemed  inevitably  to  suggest  it. 
There  is  a  Roman  ring  in  the  British  Museum  with  a 
device  and  some  initials,  engraved  for  stamping  with  ink 
as  an  attestation  to  documents.  But  the  mind  of  the 
race  had  not  as  yet  become  fit  tc  go  further,  and  it  was 
left  to  the  awakened  activity  of  a  later  age  to  see  the 
supreme  importance  of  such  hints.  It  would,  therefore, 
have  been  worse  than  useless,  for  Scripture  to  have 
anticipated  scientific  results  which  required  an  indefinite 
future  to  make  them  inveiligible. 

It  must,  therefore,  be  an  error  to  look  for  the  exactness 
of  scientific  statement  in  the  Scriptures.  They  were  given 
for  a  specific  purpose  and  for  that  only,  and  in  other 
matters  use  only  the  simple  language  of  the  senses  which 
all  ages  from  the  earliest  to  the  latest  can  understand. 

Hence,  while  all  are  agreed  in  the  testimony  which 
Genesis  bears  to  such  leading  truths  as  the  self-existence 
of  God,  His  unity,  personality,  and  goodness,  the  creation 
of  the  world  by  Him,  His  absolute  independence  of,  and 


u 

S 

u 

'i 


^J 


',!'■ 


42 


THE   BIBLE  AND   MODERN   SCIENCE. 


'1*1 


■ml 


ifl 


Si    '^ 
ll 


distinctness  from  it,  the  appearance  of  man  as  the  latftst- 
production  of  the  Almighty,  and  other  matters,  there 
has  been  the  greatest  difference  in  the  explanations 
offered  to  harmonize  the  details  of  the  sacred  narrative 
with  scientific  facts. 

On  the  first  utterance  of  Scripture,  indeel,  that  the 
earth,  after  its  creation,  lay  in  a  state  of  chaos  for  unknown 
ages  before  order  began  to  appear,  there  is  a  unanimity 
of  assent,  not  only  from  the  friends  but  from  the  critics 
of  revelation.! 

Mr.  Goodwin  says,  in  the  "  Essays  and  Reviews '*• — "The 
first  clear  view  which  we  obtain  of  the  early  condition  of 
the  earth,  presents  to  us  a  ball  of  matter,  fluid  with  intense 
heat,  spirninjf^'  on  its  own  axis  and  revolving  round  the 
sun.  How  long  it  may  have  continued  in  th^"  state  is 
beyond  calculation  or  surmise.  It  can  only  be  believed 
that  a  prolonged  period,  beginning  and  ending  we  know 
not  when,  elapsed  before  the  surface  became  cooled  and 
hardened  and  capable  of  sustaining  orgarzed  existences. 
The  water  which  now  enwraps  a  large  portion  of  the  face 
of  the  globe  must  for  ages  have  existed  only  in  the  shape 
of  steam^  floating  above,  and  enveloping  the  planet  in  one 
thick  curtain  of  mist.'^  '  The  meaning  of  the  "  days " 
of  the  Mosaic  account  has  been  the  subject  of  fi'equent 
argument,  some  thinking  them  periods  of  twenty-four 
hours,  others  lengthening  them  to  ages.  Which  opinion 
is  correct  is  a  matter  of  individual  judgment,  but  men 

*  In  the  religion  of  Zoroaster  (Zarathroustra)  the  universe 
and  man  are  created  by  Ahouramazdu,  the  good  and  great  god, 
in  six  successive  periods,  forming  in  all  a  year  of  365  days.  Man 
was  created  last,  without  stain.  By  the  way,  the  Plienician  name 
for  our  first  mother  is  Havah — the  same  as  the  Hebrew,  which  we 
English  as  Eve.     Lenormant,  Les  Origines  de  VHistoiref  p.  52. 

*  Essays  and  Reviews,  p.  113. 


THE    BIBLE   AND   MODERN    SCIENCE. 


43 


}J 


equally  orthodox  have  held  both.  The  idea  that  they 
meant  ages  was  advocated  by  Hugh  Miller,  who  con- 
sidered that  he  could  identify  the  work  of  the  fourth, 
fifth,  and  sixth  days,  respectively,  with  the  geological 
phenomena  of  the  earliest,  middle,  and  later  rocks ;  the 
presence  of  light  before  the  visible  appearance  of  the 
sun,  moon  and  stars  on  the  fourth  day,  being  accounted 
for  by  the  rising  and  dissipating  of  the  dense  veil  of  mist 
which  till  then  had  hidden  them.^  Godet  explains  the 
'^lesence  of  light  without  the  sun  by  the  exceptional  state 
of  things  in  a  world  still  intensely  heated ;  a  condition 
which  might  develop  sources  of  light  entirely  indepen- 
dent of  the  sun,  as  we  know  is  done  in  a  disturbed  state 
of  the  forces  of  nature.^  Umbreifc  on  the  other  hand 
turns  away  from  natural  explanations  and  introduces 
something  higher,  when  he  tells  us  that  "  the  sun  is  only 
a  single  and  special  outflow  from  the  source  of  light  in 
God  Himself,  which  must  stream  forth  from  Him  on  all 
manifestations  of  Himself  such  as  creation/'* 

The  distribution  of  the  six  days,  whether  regarded  as 
periods  or  in  the  ordinary  sense,  so  as  to  reconcile  the 
apparent  teaching  of  Scripture  with  the  facts  of  geology, 
has  exercised  the  ingenuity  of  a  great  many  able  writers. 
One  of  the  latest  of  these  may,  perhaps,  be  taken  as  a 
sample  of  the  rest,  for  as  all  differ  in  some  particulars 
it  would  be  wearisome  to  quote  from  any  number  of  the 
theories  offered.  Professor  Keusch,  of  Bonn,*  finds  the 
first  day's  creation  represented  b}'"  what  was  a  few  years 
since  represented  as  the  Azoic  period,  or  that  in  which 
no  life  was  supposed  to  exist  on  our  earth.     But  it  ia 

*  Testimony  of  the  llocJcs,  p.  152,  n. 

*  Godet :  Etudes  Bihliques,  vol.  i.  p.  90. 

*  Studien  and  Kritiken  (1839),  p.  192. 

*  Blhel  und  Naiur.    (Freiburg,  1862.) 


9- 


44 


THB   BIBLE   AND   MODERN   8CIENCI. 


t  u 


%  M 


'H  1 1 


necessary  to  move  back  the  opening  of  creation  to  a 
date  still  more  inconceivably  remote,  since  Sir  William 
Logan  and  Professor  Dawson  have  discovered  what  seem 
to  be  undoubted  proofs  of  life,  though  only  of  the  simplest 
kind,  in  the  oldest  known  stratified  rocks — the  Laurentian 
group  of  Canada.^  The  second  day  Reusch  fancies  to 
represent  the  ''Ferns,  polypi,  annelid  or  worm-like 
creatures,  and  Crustacea,"  of  the  Silurian  and  Devonian 
systems  of  rocks.  But  the  upper  Silurian  rocks  already 
contain  the  remains  of  fish,  which  were  not  created  till 
the  fifth  day.  The  third  day's  work  is  found  by  Dr. 
Reusch  in  the  rise  and  wonderful  development  of  the 
colossal  vegetation  of  which  we  have  the  remains  in  the 
coal  measures.  But  the  remains  of  a  cone-bearing  tree  arc 
found  in  the  Old  Red  Sandstone,^ — a  great  bed  of  rocks 
belonging  to  the  Silurian  system,  or  at  least  underlying 
what  was  till  latterly  known  as  the  Devonian — rocks 
already  attributed  to  the  work  of  the  second  day.  The 
creation  of  birds  and  fish,  which  are  the  subject  of  the 
fifth  day's  work  in  Genesis,  is  thought  by  Reusch  to  be 
illustrated  by  the  fossils  of  the  rocks  stretching  from 
above  the  coal  measures  to  the  Oolite,  though  not  in- 
cluding it.  But  fishes  had  been  created  for  long  ages 
before  these  rocks  were  slowly  deposited  in  the  new 
oceans  of  this  later  period,  by  the  wearing  away  of  con- 
tinents which  had  not  risen  from  the  deep  when  fish 
first  made  their  appearance.  It  is  doubtful  if  birds  had  as 
yet  appeared,  for  some  footprints  found  on  the  New  Red 
Sandstone,  in  Connecticut,  formerly  thought  to  be  those 
of  a  bird,  are  mora  probably  the  work  of  a  reptile.^  The 
creation  of  quadrupeds  and  reptiles,  assigned  to  the  sixth 

*  Eozoon ;  or,  The  Dawn  of  Life.    By  Professor  Dawson.   (Lon* 
don,  1876.)  *  The  Testimony  of  the  Bocles,  p.  11. 

•  Alleyne  Nicholson's  Palceontology,  2nd  edition,  vol.  ii.  p.  252, 


THE   filBLE   AND   MODERN   SCIENCE. 


45 


m- 
ages 
new 
con- 
fish 

lad  as 
Eed 

1  those 

The 

sixth 

(Lon» 
k252. 


day,  in  connection  with  that  of  man,  is  supposed  by  Dr. 
Keusch  to  be  represented  by  the  periods  of  the  OoUte, 
Lias,  and  Chalk.  But  though  the  Oolite  and  the  Lias  are 
marked  by  the  abundant  remains  of  gigantic  reptiles, 
these  were  not  the  first  of  their  order  on  our  earth,  for, 
ages  on  ages  before,  there  had  been  reptiles  during  the 
coal-forming  period.  ^  As  to  quadrupeds,  the  remains 
hitherto  found  have  been  mostly  limited  to  those  of  small 
marsupial,  or  pouched  animals,  like  some  now  living  in 
Australia.  Moreover,  between  the  Chalk  and  man  there 
stretch  out  periods  to  be  measured  only  by  long  succes- 
sions of  ages.  Indeed,  man  finds  a  place  at  all  only  by 
extending  the  period  supposed  to  represent  the  sixth  day, 
over  the  vast  series  of  revolutions  from  the  time  of  the 
Oolite  to  the  present — revolutions  involving  repeated 
changes  of  the  land  surface  of  vast  regions,  the  wearia^^ 
away  of  continents  by  the  air,  the  rain,  and  the  storm, 
and  the  slow  growth  of  new  mountain-high  strata  in  the 
bottom  of  the  ocean,  from  their  dust. 

It  is  clear  from  this  abstract  that  it  could  not  have 
been  the  design  of  God  to  give  in  the  few  opening  lines 
of  Genesis  an  exact  scientific  statement  of  the  stages 
observed  in  creation.  The  sublime  truth  that  nature  was 
prepared  step  by  step  for  the  appearance  ot  man,  is  the 
great  lesson  intended,  and  science  corroborates  it  through- 
out. There  has  been,  undoubtedly,  from  the  beginning, 
a  steady  advance  from  lower  to  higher  forms  of  life 
and  vegetation.  It  is  found  indeed  that  Cuvier's  ar- 
rangement of  the  animal  kingdom  is  exactly  that  which 
the  rocks  exhibit.*  Man  is  recognised  by  the  highest 
authorities  of  modern  science  as  beyond  question  the 
ideal  being  towards  whose  appearance  "  nature  had  been 
working  from  the  earliest  ages ;  a  being  therefore  whose 

*  Jukes'  Geology,  p.  254.        ^  Teatimony  of  the  Bocka,  p.  14. 


« 


1 


•T 

I?. 


Si 


[.'■ 


I:-' 


?,     -'\ 


46 


THE    BIBLE   AND    MODERN    SCIENCl. 


existence  had  been  foreordained.''  These  are  Professoi 
O^ven's  words.  Not  less  striking  are  those  of  Agassiz. 
"  There  is  a  manifold  progress,"  says  he,  "  in  the  succes- 
sion of  beings  on  the  surface  of  the  earth.  This  progress 
consists  in  an  increasing  similarity  to  the  living  fauna,^  and, 
among  the  vertebrates  especially,  in  their  increasing  re- 
semblance to  man.  But  this  connection  is  not  the  conse- 
quenvoe  of  a  direct  lineage  between  the  faunas  and  floras^ 
of  diflPerent  ages.  There  is  nothing  like  parental  descent 
among  them.  The  fishps  of  the  Palasozoic^  age  are  in  no 
respects  the  ancestors  of  the  reptiles  of  the  Secondary  age, 
nor  does  man  descend  from  the  mammals  which  preceded 
him  in  the  Tertiary  age.  The  link  by  which  they  are 
connected  is  of  a  higher  and  immaterial  nature ;  and  their 
connection  is  to  be  sought  in  the  view  of  the  Creator 
•fliiiQself,  whose  aim  in  forming  the  earth,  in  allowing  it 
to  undergo  the  successive  changes  which  geology  has 
pointed  out,  and  in  creating,  successively,  all  the  ditfei-cmt 
types  of  animals  which  have  passed  away,  ivas  to  introduce 
man  upon  the  surface  of  our  globe.  Man  is  the  end  towards 
which  all  the  animal  creation  has  tended,  from  the  first 
appearance  of  the  first  Palaeozoic  fishes." 

To  revert  for  a  moment  to  the  reconciliations  proposed 
between  the  work  of  the  six  days  and  the  disclosures  of 
science,  perhaps  the  most  satisfactory  is  that  of  the  late 
Dr.  McCaul,  Professor  of  Hebrew  in  King's  College.  His 
essaj,  published  in  "Aids  to  Faith,"  is  very  able,  and  in 
many  respects  deserves  attention.  He  holds  that  the 
first  verse  is  an  account  of  the  orig'nal  act  of  creation, 
which  may  have  preceded  the  changes  related  in  the  rest 
of  the  chapter  by  millions  of  years.  The  existence  of 
light  is  explained,  as  by  Reusch,  from  the  masses  of  re- 

*  Animal  kiugdom.         ^  Flora — the  vegetable  kingdom* 
'  The  age  of  ancient  life. 


IJ 


THE    BIBLE   AND   MODERN    SCIENCE. 


47 


fcssoi 
'iissiz. 
icces- 

O     - 

Qg  re- 
conse- 
floras^ 
escent 
in  no 

•y  age, 
3ceded 
ley  are 
d  their 
Creator 
zing  it 
^y  has 
itfercmt 
troduce 
owards 
le  first 

'oposed 
iures  of 
jhe  late 
p.  His 
and  in 
lat  tlie 
reation, 
he  rest 
eoce  of 
i  of  re- 

lom. 


volving  cosmical  vapour,  the  condensation  of  which,  on  the 
n(4ji]lar  theory,  produced  the  world.  It  is  not  said,  he 
adds,  that  the  sun  was  created  on  the  fourth  day,  but  only 
that,  with  tho  moon  and  stars,  it  was  then  appointed  to  rule 
the  day  and  night,  and  to  measure  time.  The  "  days  " 
are  not  to  be  measured  by  the  sun,  but  by  light  and 
darkness,  which  God  called  day  and  night,  and  their 
length  has  not  been  revealed  to  us.  They  are,  indeed, 
hold  to  have  been  vast  periods.  The  seventh  day,  like  the 
other  six,  is  an  indefinite  period,  but  the  six  creative 
periods  cannot  be  identified  with  those  of  geology  "  from 
the  fact  that  of  the  work  of  two  days  of  the  Mosaic  account 
geology  knows  nothing,  and  astronomy  nothing  certain ; 
namely,  that  of  the  first,  on  which  the  light  was  called 
forth  J  and  of  the  fourth  day,  when  the  sun  and  the  plane- 
tary system  were  perfected.  Moses  gives  an  outline  of 
the  history  of  creation,  such  as  would  be  intelligible  to 
those  for  whom  he  wrote,  and  suitable  as  an  introduction 
to  Divine  revelation,  and  on  both  accounts  necessarily 
limited  in  the  matter  and  brief  in  the  narration.'^ 

It  is  unnecessary  to  quote  Dr.  McCaul's  full  and  learned 
discussions  of  Hebrew  words,  but  his  summarv  of  results 
is  admirable.  *'  Moses  relates  how  God  created  the 
heavens  and  the  earth  at  an  indefinitely  remote  period, 
before  the  earth  was  the  habitation  of  man — Geology  has 
lately  discovered  the  existence  of  a  long  prehuman  period. 
A  comparison  with  other  Scripturoa  shows  that  the 
'  heavens '  of  Moses  include  the  abode  of  angels,  and  the 
place  of  the  fixed  stars,  which  existed  before  the  earth. 
Astronomy  points  out  remote  worlds,  whose  light  began 
its  journey  long  before  the  existence  of  man.  Moses 
declares  that  the  earth  was  or  became  covered  with  water, 
and  was  desolate  and  empty.  Geology  has  found  by 
investigation  that  the  primitive  globe  was  covered  with 


:.  a 


' 


II 


!>*.■ 


48 


THE   BIBLE    AND    MODEKN    SCIENCE. 


**l 


i'. 


'•  'i 


:W\' 


a  uniform  ocean,  and  that  there  was  a  long  Azoic  period; 
during  which  neither  plant  nor  animal  could  live.  Mosea 
states  that  there  was  a  time  when  the  earth  was  not  de- 
pendent on  the  sun  for  light  or  heat;  when,  therefore,  there 
could  be  no  climatic  differences.  Geology  has  lately 
verified  this  statement  by  finding  tropical  plants  and  ani- 
mals scattered  overall  places  of  the  earth.  Moses  affirms 
that  the  sun,  as  well  as  the  moon,  is  only  a  light-holder. 
Astronomy  declares  that  the  sun  is  a  non-luminous  body, 
depeudent  for  its  light  on  a  luminous  atmosphere.  Moses 
asserts  that  the  earth  existed  before  the  sun  was  given  as 
a  luminary.  Modern  science  proposes  a  theory  which  ex- 
plains liov  this  was  possible.  Moses  asserts  that  there  is 
an  expanse  eiitending  irom  earth  to  the  distant  heights,  in 
which  the  heavenly  bodies  are  p'  ^cod.  Recent  discoveries 
lead  to  the  supposition  of  some  subtle  fluid  medium  in 
which  they  move,  Moses  describes  the  process  of  crea- 
tion as  gradual,  and  mentions  the  order  in  which  living 
things  appeared,  plants,  fishes,  fowls,  land  animals,  man. 
By  the  study  of  nature  geology  had  arrived  independently 
at  the  same  conclusion.  Whence  did  Moses  get  all  thi'a 
knowledge  ?  How  was  it  that  he  worded  his  rapid  sketch 
with  such  scientific  accuracy  ?  If  he  in  his  day  possessed 
the  knowledge  which  genius  and  science  have  attained 
only  recently,  that  knowledge  is  superhuman.  If  he  did 
not  possess  the  knowledge,  then  his  pen  must  have  been 
guided  by  superhuman  wisdom  .''i 

Aids  to  Faith,  pp.  232-233. 
It  is  curious  to  find  Dean  Colet  so  long  ago  as  the  dawn  of  our 
English  Reformation,  in  treating  the  narrative  of  creation  in 
Genesis,  show  a  freedom  and  independent  judgment  which  seem 
to  anticipate  the  most  modern  spirit  of  inquiry.  Ii  is  well  to 
notice  this  fact  in  connection  with  the  great  father  of  English 
Protestantism,  that  no  one  may  think  harshly  of  good  men  whos« 


t    J 


TRE   BIBLE   AND   MODERN    SCIENCE. 


49 


Deriod; 
Moses 
lot  de- 
),  there 
lately 
nd  am- 
affirms 
holder. 
3  body, 
Moses 
;iven  as 
lich  ex- 
there  is 
ghts,  in 
joveries 
lium  in 
)f  crea- 
living 
»  man. 
ndeutly 
all  this 
sketch 
ssessed 
ttaiued 
he  did 
e  been 


rn  of  our 

katiou  in 

icb  seem 

well  to 

English 

3n  whoB* 


t( 


But  while  it  is  certain,  to  use  the  words  of  Buns<n,i 
that  it  will  be  seou  more  and  tnoro  as  years  pass,  tliat 
the  full  light  of  science  does  not  eclipse  the  truth  oi  the 
Bible,  but  only  leads  us,  by  its  discoveries,  to  understand 
the  sacred  pages  aright,  and  shows  more  and  more  con- 
vincingly their  imperishable  worth,''  it  is  well  to  remem- 
ber that  their  glory  as  a  Divine  revelation  lies  in  a  far 
higher  sphere  than  that  of  mere  physical  studies.  "  The 
divine,  in  the  Semitic  revelation,"  he  adds,  "  lies  in  its 
spiritual  conceptions.  On  this  account  it  is,  and  remains, 
the  treasure  of  humanity ;  intelligible  to  the  humblest, 
commanding  the  reverence  of  the  wisest;  the  only  story 
of  the  origin  of  our  race  which  we  can  harmonize  with 
our  natural  conception  of  God  or  with  science."  * 

The  following  table  is  compiled  from  the  2nd  edition'  of  the 
Manual  of  Pal(Jdontolog.f  of  Prof.  AUeyno  Nicholson,  perhaps  tho 
greatest)  living  authority  iu  Britain,  on  ancient  life.  It  indicates 
tho  succession  of  plant  and  animal  life  in  the  world,  a3  far  as  at 
present  knovyn.  Tho  oldest  rocks  are  naturally  placed  last,  tho 
others  in  the  order  of  superposition. 


Hi 
O 


o 

o 
'A 


^PosT  Tertiary. — That  is,  up  to  tho  present  era.     Man,  sheep  and 

goats,  cavo  lion,  huge  kangaroos. 
Pliocenk. — Swordtish,  walrus,  hares.     The  Tertiary  vegetable  world 

(iucl  idiug  the  rocks  to  the  Eocene)  was  very  much  like  what  it  is  at 

presoat  in  hot  and  temperate  cL  nates. 
Miocene. — Oxen,  elephants,  bears,  land  tortoises  (one  in  India  20  foet 

long  and  7  feet  high)  sloths,  whales,sperm  whale3,dolphins,rliinocoi'os, 

tapirs,  camels,  seals.    Beasts  of  prey  abounded.    Beavers.    Liclioiis. 
EocENK. — Deer.     Beasts  of  prey  begin.     Dogs,  rats,  mice,  bats,  lemui-s, 

animals  related  to  the  horse,  to  the  pig,  to  the  t^pir,  to  the  wluilo. 

Snakes,  crocodiles.    Deer.    Mammalia  begin  to  abound.   Sturgoou, 

Frogs  and  toads,  newts  and  salamanders.     Pillworts. 


conclusions  respecting  this  portion  of  the  Mosaic  writings  may 
be  ditforent  from  one's  own. 

I  may  add,  as  an  illastration  of  the  slow  growth  of  natural 
science,  that  Oolet  speaV°  of  five  elements  :  air,  earth,  fire,  water, 
and  ether.  "  Beluw  the  stars,"  scys  he, "  are  tho  inhabitants  of 
fire  and  air."    Letters  to  Badulphus,  p.  14. 

»  Bibel  V',-kunden,  vol.  i.  p.  30.     «  Ibid.,  p.  35.      •  Edin.  1879. 

VOL.  I.  £ 


I 


'  V 


!• 


50  THb:   DIULfc:   and   modern    BCiENCE. 

CiiKTACEous  (Chalk).— Fishea  with  bony  ekoletons  beffin.  True 
tthurkd,  liugo  lixardH  (75  feet  lonsf  iu  hoiuo  ciisoh),  ctocotliloi 
(Ainorica),  Kigantio  extinct  rcptilos  of'  Lias  continue.  Toothed  birds. 
No  niatiinmlia  t'mn'.l  .»«  j,^t  in  Challc.  First  certain  appearance  of 
trees  like  the  forest  trees  of  our  own  teniperuto  regions,  the  oak, 
beech,  tig,  poplar,  walnut,  willow,  iildev,  etc.     Also  palms. 

OoLlTi;,  oU  JiiUAS'-'  ■;,  (Ijias,  the  lowest  rocks). — Fourteen  small  mam- 
mals t't)Uiid  in  npj)er  beds  of  Oolite.  A  single  specimen  (the  earliest) 
of  a  bird.  Turtles,  lizard  animals.  In  Lias  and  Oolite,  gi^aatio 
extinct  reptiles,  tlio  iclithyosaurus,  plesio.sauru8,  megalosaurus, 
pterodactyle,  and  many  others,  in  great  niimbors. 

In  Lower  Oolite.     Oldest  known  crab.      Throo  or  four  small 
marsupial  rjuadrupcda. 

Triassic. — Three  or  four  small  mammals  found  in  the  uppermost  beds. 
Footprints,  "  in  great  part  or  wholly  the  work  of  roptileo."  Crocodile 
animals.     Great  animal,  half  reptile,  half  bird. 

Marked  change  in  the  vegetation  as  co»iij)ared  with  that  of  the 
Permian  and  Carboniferous  perit)ds.     Abundance  of  oycads. 

Pkrmian. — First  undoubted  remains  of  arcptile,tho  protosaurus.  Tur- 
tles and  tortoises.  Vegetable  world  nearly  related  to  that  of  the 
coal  measures.    Ferns,  cone-bearing  trees,  etc.,  etc. 

Caiibonikkrous  (Coal,  limestone,  etc.). — Sea  snails,  scorpions,  spiders, 
millipedes,  winged  insects.  The  limestone  in  many  i)laces,  over 
largo  ai'cas,  and  for  a  thickness  of  many  yards,  almojt  entirely 
made  up  of  the  remains  of  stone  lilies  (crinoidca).  The  footprints 
of  the  cheirotherium  {handbeast).  Vertebrso  of  a  largo  creature 
believed  to  be  allied  to  a  frog.  Vegetable  world  much  the  same  aa 
that  of  the  Devonian  rocks.  Fungi,  cone-bearing  trees,  flowering 
plants,  etc.,  etc.,  as  in  Devonian,  gigantic  club  mosses  and  horsetails. 

Devonian. — Winged  insects.  This  is  the  ape  of  armoured  fishes,  the 
scales  ganoid  or  enamelled,  and  hard  as  1  'oue ;  forming  a  true  ar- 
mour. Plants  abundant.  Cone-bearing  trees,  ferns,  tree  ferns,  club 
mosses,  horsetails,  tree  allied  to  our  hardwood  trees.  Representa- 
tives then  flourished  of  almost  all  the  great  groups  of  plputs  which 
grow  at  present. 

SiLURFAN. — Starfish,  sea  urchins,  creatures  allied  to  sharks,  stone  lilies, 
trilobites,  sea  urchins.  Bivalve  shells  related  to  oysters,  cockiea, 
etc.,  abound. 

Lower  Silurian. — Worm-like  creatures,  cuttlefish,  creatures  allied  to 
the  nautilus,  corals,  zoophites,  stone  lilies.  Seaweeds,  ferns, 
horsetails,  club  mosses,  a  cone-bearing  tree  (alUed  to  the  pines), 
tree  allied  to  conebearers  and  to  cycads. 

Cambrian. — Stone  lilies,  bivalve  shells,  shells  like  whelks,  limpets,  etc. 
Crustaceans  of  a  low  type  allied  to  shrimps.    Possibly,  seaweeds* 

HURONIAN. — 

Laurentian. — Eozoon — if  an  organized  form  ? 

Mr.  St.  George  Mivarb  tells  us  that  "The first  known mammala 
of  Europe  and  North  America  in  the  Permian  and  Oolite  forma- 
tions resembled  forms  now  living  in  Australia;  and  at  the  time 
of  the  deposition  of  the  oolite  beds,  'cycads'  (trees  related  to 
both  palms  and  tree  ferns)  and  'Araucarias*  (gigantic  pines,  of 
which  the  Norfolk  Island  pine  is  an  illustration)  inhabited  Eng- 
land.    Again,  in  Eocene  times  we  had  lemurs,  true  opossums, 


I 


E 

f 

o 

fie 


THE    BIBLE    AND   MODERN    SGIBNCE. 


51 


Biuall 


tapirs,  alligators,  and  gavials,  simultanGously,  in  Europe,  und 
clmniolcons  in  America,  while  the  character  of  the  fatiiia  (tho 
BiiimalH)  of  the  Bonthern  part  of  South  America  sceina  to  have 
been  European.  In  Miocene  times,  long-armed  apes,  giriiifes 
and  rliinoceroses  existed  in  Europe,  while  girart'os  and  orangs 
existed  in  India.  Indeed,  at  that  poiiod,  there  appears  to  have 
been  a  rich  fauna,  more  or  less  common  to  Asia,  Europe,  and 
Africa,  from  which  the  existing  Indian  and  Ethiopian  fauna  have, 
as  it  were  diverged,  becoming  increasingly  different.  In  iMioccno 
times  camels,  rhinoceroses,  elephants,  and  horses,  all  co-existed 
in  North  America  as  well  as  Europe ;  while  later,  in  South 
America,  huge  precursors  of  tho  sloths  ranged  tho  forests  (the 
trees  of  which  they  felled  and  fed  on)  as  great  marsupials  in 
Australia  preceded  the  smaller  but  closely  allied  marsupials  of 
our  own  day." — Contemporary  Review  (Feb.  1880),  p.  21^9. 


mmals 
forraa- 
le  time 
ited  to 
ines,  of 
d  Efig- 
)ssums, 


CHAPTER  V, 

JEWISH  IDEAS   OP   NATURE  AND   OF  CREATION. 

IT  would  bo  interesting  and  instructivo  if  we  could 
carry  ourselves  back  to  the  simple  ago  when  Moses 
first  told  the  story  of  the  Creation  to  the  multitudes  of 
his  people,  lately  slaves  in  Egypt,  but  now  wandering  in 
the  desert  spaces  that  hem  round  the  Promised  Land. 
What  ideas  could  they  have  attached  to  the  words  which 
to  us  are  so  full  of  significance  ? 

The  humble  Jew,  so  lately  toiling  m  the  brickfields  of 
Rameses,  must  have  been  in  all  intellectual  respects  a 
child  of  nature.  His  ideas  of  the  world  around  him  and 
the  sky  over  him  could  have  been  formed  only  from  tho 
impi'essions  of  the  senses,  uncorrected  by  the  reasonings 
or  -^le  discoveries  of  science.  He  had  heard  in  Egypt 
that  the  sun  was  the  supreme  god  and  that  tho  other 
heavenly  bodies  were  divine ;  that  the  Nile  was  no  less 
sacred  and  supernatural,  and  that  even  the  lower  animals 
in  the  houses,  the  streets,  and  the  fields,  were  in  many 
cases  sacred.  It  was  only  in  his  own  hut  that  he  liad 
learned,  perchance,  of  something  higher  and  better,  if  his 
circle  retained,  after  four  hundred  years,  any  remem- 
brance of  the  Lord  God  of  their  fathers,  whose  very 
name  had  been  forgotten  by  most  of  his  race.  * 

»  Exod.  iii.  13.  ^ 

62 


V 


JF.WIsn    IDKAS    or   NATURE   AMD   OF  CUKATION. 


63 


•n. 


ds  of 
cts  a 
and 
the 

iiiga 

ypfc 

other 
less 
mala 
many 
had 
if  his 
mem- 
very 


As  to  the  world  in  which  ho  lived,  or  the  sky  above 
him,  what  could  he  know  ?  The  first  rude  attempt  at  a 
map  was  a  wonder  to  a  king  of  Egypt  nearly  a  thousand 
years  after  this,^  and  at  a  still  later  period  the  Ti«^ria 
and  Euphrates  were  the  eastern  bounds  of  the  Hebrew 
world — the  southern  shore  of  the  Black  Sea,  and  the 
district  stretching  from  it  to  the  Caspian,  his  farthest 
north.  In  Europe  he  knew  only  the  shore  of  the  Medi- 
terranean ;  Egypt  and  its  western  and  southern  territories 
summed  up  his  knowledge  of  Africa.* 

Nor  need  we  boast,  for  the  maps  of  our  forefathers 
reveal  almost  as  narrow  conceptions  of  the  world.  A 
Medi89val  map  of  the  earth  could  not  be  recognised  as 
such  without  careful  study,  as  I  shall  have  occasion  to 
show  in  a  future  page. 

The  nearest  approach  we  have  to  the  ideas  of  the 
actual  configuration  and  phenomena  of  the  world  in  an 
age  so  remote  as  that  of  Genesis,  is  furnished  by  tho  - 
ancient  tablets  of  Nineveh,  which  reveal  the  notions 
entertained  on  these  subjects  by  the  race  originally 
supreme  in  Mesopotamia — the  so-called  Accadians —  * 
whose  glory  had  already  departed  before  Abraham's  day. 
The  world,  they  thought,  was  a  mere  hollow  convex  skin, 
like  a  round  boat  or  bowl.  Tho  upper  surface  was 
the  earth  with  its  waters ;  the  concavity  below,  the  abyss 
where  the  genii  and  the  dead  had  their  abode.  Through 
this  dark  and  cheerless  region  tho  sun  made  its  way 
each  night.  Over  the  earth,  the  sky,  studded  with  its 
fixed  stars,  stretched  itself  like  a  covering,  and  turned 
round  the  mountain  of  the  east,  the  pillar  which  joins 

*  Anaximander  of  Miletus,  B.C.  611-546,  made  the  first  attempt  afc 
a  chart  of  the  world.  It  was  on  brass.  Ebcr's  Eine  JEtjuptlsvlit 
Kunipstochier,  vol.  i.  p.  208.     Hecataiua,  B.C.  520,  made  a  second. 

3  Seo  map  by  Merx.     Schcnkel's  Bibel  Lexicon.    See  p.  2ia. 


■^1 


'  1 

1 

i 

1 ' 

t 

54 


JEWISH  IDEAS  OF  NATURE  AND  OF  CREATION. 


heaven  and  earth  and  serves  as  an  axis  for  the  celestial 
vault.  The  centre  of  the  earth,  however,  was  different 
from  that  of  the  skies,  for  like  many  ancient  nations,  the 
Accadians  fancied  their  own  land  in  the  very  middle  of 
the  world,  while  the  mountain  over  the  peak  of  which  tho 
sky  of  the  fixed  stars  revolves  was  in  the  north-west. 
The  sky  as  a  whole  rested  on  the  edge  of  the  earth,  out- 
side a  ,»reat  circle  of  ocean  waters,  which  they,  like  tho 
Greeks  and  other  ancient  nations,  believed  surrounded 
the  world.  The  planets  moved  in  a  heaven  below  that  of 
the  fixed  stars,  and  were  the  sources  of  the  thunder, 
which,  again,  by  rending  the  clouds  let  the  rain  escape 
through  their  openings.  ^ 

The  ideas  of  physical  science  and  natural  phenomena 
which  prevailed  in  the  second  century  before  Christ  must 
have  been  far  in  advance  of  those  of  the  days  of  Moses, 
thirteen  hundred  years  earlier,  and  thus  may  help  us  to 
realize  the  notions  of  the  ordinary  Hebrew  of  that  remote 
age.  By  a  fortunate  chance  we  find  many  of  these  iu 
the  Jewish  Book  of  Enoch  of  that  date,  ^  from  which  the 
following  are  taken  What  must  have  been  the  simplicity 
of  the  mind  which  could  write  as  follows :  "  And  they  took 
me  away  to  the  pla^e  of  the  storm  wind  and  to  a  moun- 
tain whose  peaks  reached  to  heaven.  And  I  saw  bright 
sliming  places  ^  and  the  thunder  at  tho  ends  of  them. 
And  they  took  me  to  the  so-called  water  of  life,  and  to 
the  fire  of  the  west*  which  receives  every  setting  of  the 
sun.     And  I  camo  to  a  fiery  stream,  where  fire  flows  like 

*  Lenormant :  La  Magie  cliez  les  Chaldeena,  p.  140. 
'  Das  Bach  IlcnocJi.     Ed.  Dillmann. 

^  The  places  where  the  light  is  stored  up  and  from  which  the 
liglitiiiiij^s  come. 

*  The  tire  of  the  west  is  a  groat  fire  ocean  into  which  tho  sun 
dips  each  night  to  take  up  fresh  fire  for  the  next  day. 


JEWISH    IDEAS   OF    NATURE    AND    OF   CREATION. 


65 


like 


water,  atid  pours  itself  into  a  great  sea  towards  the 
west.  And  I  saw  all  the  great  rivers,  and  came  to  a 
great  darkness,  and  went  oi  to  where  all  the  dead  wander 
about.  And  I  saw  the  mountains  of  the  black  clouds  of 
winter  and  the  place  into  which  the  waters  of  the  whole 
Deep  pour  themselves.  And  I  saw  the  mouths  of  all  the 
streams  of  the  world  and  the  mouth  of  the  Deep.* 

"  And  I  saw  the  storehouses  of  the  winds  and  the 
foundations  of  the  earth.  And  I  saw  the  corner-stone 
of  the  earth  and  the  four^winds  which  bear  up  the  earth 
and  the  firmament  of  heaven.  And  I  saw  how  the  winds 
spread  out  the  heights  of  the  heavens,  and  they  blow 
between  heaven  and  earth  and  are  the  pillars  of  heaven. 
And  I  saw  the  winds  that  turn  the  heavens,  and  bring 
the  circuit  of  the  snn  and  of  all  the  stars  to  their  setting. 
And  I  went  farther  towards  the  south,  where  it  burns, 
day  and  night,  where  tho  seven  mountains  of  precious 
stones  are."  Beyond  this  he  came  to  a  place  "  where 
heaven  and  earth  come  to  an  end,  and  it  serves  for  a 
prison  for  the  stars  of  heaven  and  for  the  host  of  heaven. 
The  stars  whicj^  roll  over  the  fires  are  those  which  have 
broken  the  commands  of  God  by  not  rising  at  the  time 
appointed  them,  and  He  was  angry  with  them  and  bound 
them  till  the  time  when  their  punishment  should  be 
fulfilled.* 

"...  From  thence  I  went  to  the  ends  of  the  earth 
on  which  the  heaven  rests,  and  1  saw  the  doors  of  heaven 
open.  And  I  saw  how  the  stars  of  heaven  came  out,  and 
counted  the  doors  from  which  they  came  out.  .  ,  . 
Fvom  theiK  I  went  to  the  north  and  saw  the  ends  of 
the  earth  there.  Here  I  saw  those  doors  of  heaven  open. 
From  each  of  these  como   out  north  winds :  when  they 

o  flow  round  the 


Apparently 


ocean 


was 


eaith. 


Das  Bach  IL 


CUOCJ, 


ought  to  flic 
Kap.  17,  18. 


I 


'm 


I 


66 


JEWISH    IDEAS  OF  NATURE  AfID  OF  CREATION. 


I 


blow  it  brings  cold,  hail,  hoarfrost,  snow,  dew,  and  rain. 
When  it  blows  only  from  one  of  these  doors  it  is  good, 
but  when  it  blows  from  the  others,  it  storms  and  brings 
distress  on  the  earth.  ^ 

"  From  thence  I  went  to  the  south,  to  the  ends  of  the 
earth  there,  and  saw  there  open  doors  in  the  heaven. 
From  out  of  these  come  forth  the  south  wind,  the  dew, 
rain,  and  wind.  Thence  went  I  to  the  ends  of  the  heaven 
at  the  east,  and  saw  there  three  doors  of  heaven  open, 
and  over  them  little  doors.  Through  each  of  these  little 
doors  come  out  the  stars  of  heaven,  and  run  towards  the 
west  on  the  way  which  is  shown  to  them.* 

"...  And  then  I  saw  closed  storehouses  from  which 
the  winds  are  sent  abroad,  and  the  storehouses  of  the 
hail  and  of  the  mist  and  of  the  clouds.  And  I  saw  the 
houses  of  the  sun  and  of  the  moon,  from  which  they  go 
forth  and  to  which  they  return,  and  how  they  add  no- 
thing to  their  prescribed  course  and  take  nothing  from 
it,  and  keep  truth  one  with  another,  holdmg  to  their 
oath.^  .  .  -  And  I  saw  again  lightnings  and  the 
stars  of  heaven,  and  I  saw  how  the  angel  called  them  all 
to  him  by  name  and  they  hearkened  to  him.  And  I  saw 
how  they  are  weighed  out  with  just  balances,  according  to 
their  light,  and  the  distance  of  their  course,  and  the  time 
of  their  appearing  and  circuits,  and  how  one  lightning 
begets  the  other,  and  their  circuits,  according  to  the  num- 
ber of  the  angels,  and  how  they  keep  truth  among 
themselves.  Also,  another  thing  saw  I  concerning  the 
lio-htnings,  how  some  stars  become  lightnings  and  no- 
thing is  left  of  the  stars.* 

"  And  I  saw  six  doors  from  which  the  sun  goes  forth, 

*  Das  Buck  Henoch,  Kap.  83,  34 

*  Ibid.,  Kap.  3t).  »  Ihicl,  Kap.  41. 

*  Ibid.,  Kap.  43,  44.    This  refers  to  "  shooting  stars.** 


1 


■"'i'l 


JEWISH    IDEAS   OF   NATURE   AND   OV  CREATION. 


67 


and  six  doors  into  which  it  passes  in  setting  ;  the  moon 
also  rises  and  sets  through  these  doors,  and  the  leaders  ot 
the  stars,  with  the  stars  which  they  lead.  I  saw  also 
many  windows  right  and  left  of  these  doors.  And  iirst 
goes  forth  tho  great  light  called  the  sun.  The  wagi^on 
in  which  it  rises  upwards  is  driven  by  the  wind,  and, 
when  it  sets,  the  sun  vanishes  from  heaven  and  returns  by 
the  north,  to  get  to  the  east  again,  and  is  so  led  that  ifc 
comes  to  the  proper  door  and  shines  in  tho  heaven.  la 
this  way  it  rises  through  the  great  door,  in  the  first 
month,  the  fourth  of  the  six  doors  of  the  east.  And  iu 
that  fourth  door,  through  which  the  sun  rises  in  the  first 
month,  are  twelve  windows,  from  which,  when  at  their 
appointed  time  they  are  opened,  a  flame  comes  forth. 
The  sun  rises  through  that  fourth  door  for  thirty  days, 
and  goes  straight  over  to  the  fourth  door  of  tho  west 
and  sets  thron^gh  it.  .  .  .  Then  it  returns  to  the 
fifth  door  for  thirty  mornings,  and  sets  through  the  fifth 
door  iu  the  west  for  as  long,  and  so,  next,  with  the  sixth 
doors  Vi  the  east  and  west,  for  thirty-one  mornings.^' 
Having  completed  this  series  of  changes  they  are  then 
repeated  backwards  from  the  sixth  door,  successively,  to 
the  first  door,  the  changes  making  the  difference  of  the 
length  of  day  and  night  r.mnd  the  year.  "And  so  it  rises 
and  sets  and  never  ceases  or  rests,  but  goes  on  day  and 
night  in  its  waggon,  and  its  light  is  seven  times  as  groat 
as  that  of  the  moon,  but  in  size  the  two  are  alike."* 
"And  I  saw  twelve  doors  in  the  round  of  the  sun- 
waggon  in  heaven  from  which  tho  beams  of  the  sun 
break  forth,  and  from  them  goes  forth  heat  over  the 
earth,  when  they  are  opened  in  their  season.''  "And  I 
saw  wajxi^ons  in  the  heavens  such  as  there  arc  on  the 
earth,  in  which  tho  never  setting  stars  move."  ^ 
*  Das  Buck  Ilcnuehf  Kap.  43,  Ai.    ^  Ibid.,  Kap.  72,    '  Ibid.,  Kap.  75, 


■■ 


I 


68 


JEWISH   IDEAS   OF  NATURE   AND  OP   CREATION. 


The  writer's  knowledge  of  the  earth  is  on  a  par  witt 
that  of  the  heavens.  He  tells  us  that  the  earth  has  exactly 
sevuii  highest  mountains,  seven  greatest  rivers,  and  seven 
greatest  islands.  It  is  hard  to  deciue  what  mountains  ho 
means,  but  the  rivers  are  less  doubtful.  The  first  comes 
from  the  West  and  pours  itself  into  the  "Great  Sea" — - 
that  is,  the  Mediterranean.  This  is  undoubtedly  the  Nile, 
which  is  conceived  as  flowing  from  the  south-west,  if 
indeed  "west"  be  not  a  corruption  for  "south."  Two, 
which  LTust  be  the  Euphrates  and  Tigris,  come  fr  -  the 
north,  and  pour  their  waters  into  the  "  Erythraean  Sei," 
the  common  name  for  the  Arabian  and  Persian  Gulfs  and 
the  Indian  Ocean.  'J^ie  four  others  "  come  from  the  north 
to  their  sea,  two  to  the  Erythraean  Sea,  two  empty 
themselves  in  the  Great  Sea,  or  according  to  some  in 
the  wilderness."  The  Indus  and  the  Ganges,  which  rise 
north  of  the  writer,  seem  to  be  meant  by  the  first  two,  the 
Oxus  and  Jaxartes  by  the  others;  the  Black  and  Caspian 
Seas  being  supposed  part  of  the  Mediterranean.  But 
perhaps  "  they  lose  themselves  in  the  desert,"  that  is,  in 
Arabia  !  There  is  no  mention  of  Europe  at  all,  and 
Africa  is  known  only  by  the  Nile,  while  Eastern  Asia  is 
a  mere  dim  imagination.  Of  the  seven  greatest  islands 
two  are  on  the  land ;  that  is,  are  land  lying  between 
rivers.  These  would  be,  apparently,  Mesopotamia,  and 
the  island  of  Meroe  on  the  Nile.  Five  are  in  "  the  Great 
Sea,"  the  Mediterranean,  and  are  no  doubt  Cyprus,  Crete, 
and  Rhodes,  with  perhaps  Sicily,  and  the  Morea,  wliich 
might  easily  be  fancied  an  island.*  So  small  was  the 
world  to  the  Jew  even  in  the 


Christ. 


ays 


% 


If  the  heavens  and  the  earth  were  so  limited  to  His 
remote   posterity,    what   must   they   have    been   to   tho 

*  Dns  Bufli  JL'iioch,  Kap.  77. 


c 

( 

'J 


li 
o 

t: 

ic 

T 
ai 

8: 


JEWISH    IDEAS    OF   NATURE    AND   OV   CREATION. 


59 


tt 


tore 

Hia 
the 


wondering  minds  of  those  who  looked  out  on  them  from 
the  tents  of  the  forty  years  wandering  ?  How  must  tho 
words  of  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis  have  sounded  wheu 
they  were  heard  for  the  first  time,  in  all  their  startling 
contrast  with  the  ideas  of  creation  till  then  unchallenged  ? 
We  can  fancy  the  tribes  assembled  in  the  great  "  plains  " 
of  Wady  es  Sheykh  and  of  Wady  er  Rahah,  or  of  Wady 
Sebaijeh,  under  the  mighty  cliffs  of  Sinai/  rising  ter- 
race above  terrace  around,  to  hear  the  first  reading  of  the 
book  of  the  covenant  j*  the  cloud  of  the  Presence  cover- 
ing tho  mount,  and  the  awful  splendours  of  the  Divine 
glory  lighting  through  it  "lik  .•  devouring  fire."  The  first 
words  as  they  fell  from  the  lips  of  Moses  or  of  tho  elders, 
and  sounded  far  over  tho  listening  thousands,  through  the 
clear  Eastern  air,  were  themselves  r„  stupendous  revela- 
tion. Hitherto  tncy  had  heard,  in  Egypt,  for  centuries, 
of  Osiris  and  Horus,  and  a  countless  multitude  of  gods. 
They  had  seen  men  worshipping  the  sun  as  the  great 
king  of  heaven,  and  the  stars  and  moon  as  lesser  deities, 
and  they  were  soon  to  show  in  the  demand  for  a  golden 
calf,  the  Egyptian  symbol  of  the  gods  Apis  and  Mnevis,* 

*  Stanley  {Sinai  and  Falestine^  p.  42)  supposes  the  former  two 
open  spaces  the  scene  of  the  assembUes  of  the  people  Fuircr 
(Schenkel's  Blhel  Lex.,  art.  Sinai)  thinks  the  latter  the  place. 
The  various  nci<.'hbonriiig  peaks  of  the  Sinai  group  range  from 
6,500  to  8,000  f^et  in  height  above  the  sea  level. 

3  Exod.  xxiv.  7. 

■  Amos  V.  25,  has  boon  referred  to  the  period  of  the  wilderness 
life,  but  Assyrian  stu'iy  shows  it  to  have  been  spoken  of  Amos' 
own  d fy.  Scli^vider  translates  the  verse  "Ye  will,  therefore, 
take  np  Sakkntli  your  king,  and  Kewan,  your  star-god — your 
idols — which  you  have  made  for  yourselves,  and  I  will  lead  both 
you  and  th'm  into  captivity."  Sakkoth,  in  Assyrian  =  A dar, 
an  ox-faced  god  =  Saturn  =  Moloch.  Kewan  (Assyrian)  ■=  Saturn, 
Stiidlea  und  Kntlken  (187l<),  pp.  o2I-'.}32. 


60 


JEWISH    IDEAS    OF   NATURE   AND   OP   CREATION. 


»;  l!   V 


that  tbo  gross  ideas  of  the  Nile  valley  kad  sunk  deep 
into  their  minds. 

But  now  they  hear  that  "  Iq  tne  beginning,  One,  only 
God  created  the  heavens  and  the  earth ;"  created,  not 
fashioned  them.  What  the  "  beginning  "  meant  they 
could  have  understood  as  little  as  we,  but  it  at  least 
destroyed  ii,^e  universal  belief  of  their  day  that  nature 
was  self-existing  and  eternal.  They  had  no  grand  ideas 
of  the  vastness  of  the  universe  such  as  our  astronomy 
has  awakened.  The  High  and  the  Low  was  their  only 
conception  of  sky  and  earth.  Nor  had  they  even  a  word 
for  the  universe  in  our  sense.*  What  they  saw  around 
and  over  them  in  the  horizon  of  day  or  the  splendours 
of  night,  was  to  them  the  creation.  All  this  they  now 
heard  was  the  work  of  Elohim,  a  name  conveying  to  them 
the  conception  of  power  and  might,  and  in  its  plural  form 
that  of  awful  and  incomparable  majesty.*  Henceforth  it 
becomes  the  glory  of  Israel,  too  often  indeed  to  be  for- 
gotten by  many,  but  yet  to  be  treasured  by  the  faithful, 
till  at  last  it  becomes  the  passionate  boast  of  all,  that  this 
one  living  God  summed  up  in  Himself  the  power  and 
glory  of  all  the  idols  of  Egypt  and  of  the  nations. 
From  this  time  the  great  spirits  of  their  race,  age  after 
age,  realize  Him  as  He  who  sitteth  upon  the  circle  of 
the  earth ;  before  whom  its  inhabitants  are  as  grass - 
"aoppers;  that  stretcheth  out  the  heavens  as  a  curtain, 


*  See  Umbreit,  in  Studien  und  Kritiken  (1866),  pp.  706  ff. 

*  Elohim  is  the  plural,  and  is  used  as  we  use  the  plural  pro- 
noun in  speaking  of  royally,  or  even  in  common  conversation. 
Thus  we  use  "you"  constantly  for  "thoii."  Some  have  fancied 
that  the  plural  form  is  a  relic  of  polytheistic  usage,  wrested  from 
its  primitive  force  by  the  Hebrews,  and  consecrated  to  the  One 
God  alone.  It  may  be  that  this  is  so,  but  the  usage  does  not 
require  such  an  explanation.    See  note,  t^.W, 


f 
1 

a 
c 

G 
V 


$1 


pro- 
Ition. 
^cied 
from 
lOno 
not 


JEWISH    IDEAS   OF   NATURE   AND   OF   CREATION. 


61 


and  spreadeth  them  out  as  a  tent  to  dwell  in,^  The 
moment  of  such  a  revelation  was  a  supreme  instant  in  the 
history  of  the  world. 

As  the  words  of  the  second  verse  sounded  forth — "  And 
the  earth  was  waste  and  wild,  and  darkness  rested  upon 
the  face  of  the  deep.  And  the  Spirit,  or  breath,  of  God 
brooded  upon  the  face  of  the  waters  " — a  vision  of  uni- 
versal desolation  and  darkness  would  rise  before  the  awe- 
strickei:  multitudes  ;  of  a  heaving,  fathomless,  incompre- 
hensible abyss,  tumultuous  like  the  stormy  ocean,  which 
they  had  seen  so  lately  when  they  crossed  its  dried  bed. 
There  was  a  time,  then,  they  would  think,  when  these 
sky-piercing  mountains,  at  whose  foot  they  stood,  were 
not,  nor  the  great  sky,  nor  the  wide  ep.rth ;  when  there 
was  only  a  shoreless  surging  chaos,  veiled  in  night  and 
terror ;  a  waste  lighted  by  no  beams  of  sun  or  stars. 
But  over  this,  when  it  pleased  Elohim,  His  spirit  went 
forth  to  brood,  dove-like,  and  wake  it  to  life  and  order. 
To  us  the  picture  is  familiar  from  infancy,  but  what 
must  it  have  seemed  when  first  proclaimed. 

But  now  they  hear — "  And  God  said.  Let  there  be 
light,  and  there  was  light."  So  then  the  mighty  light  is 
the  first-born  of  God.  He  Himself  remains  unseen  and 
uniniagined,  but  His  approach,  to  form  a  world,  is 
heralded  by  the  glorious  splendours  of  day.  No  sun  is 
mentioned ;  the  mind  is  left  to  think  only  of  the  face  of 
God.  It  is  His  coming  nigh,  covered  with  light  as  with 
a  garment,  the  light  of  an  Eastern  sky ;  veiling  Himself 
in  the  insufferable  brightness  that  fills  the  wide  earth 
and  heaven.  Presently,  before  Him,  the  horror  of  thick 
darkness,  terrible  as  that  of  the  land  of  the  shadow  of 
death,  rolls  away  like  olouds  before  the  sun,  and  the 
weltering  chaos  lies  in  brightness. 

>  liiaiah  xl.  22. 


P 


M 


1  ii 


(! 


J3 


62 


JEWISH    IDEAS    OP   NATURE   AND   OP    CREATION. 


^1/ 


■  t  1       s 

i 

;  I   r 


^^   I   i:^ 


s 

I  i 

Ml                           4t. 

Ii     1 

1       ;'■'! 

1       «<'' 

k. 

LI. 

In  Egypt  they  had  worshipped  Scb,  tho  princi'plo  of 
evil,  as  well  as  Osiris,  the  beneficent;  but  now  tliey 
heard  that  Elohim  reigns  alone,  as  tho  Author  of  good, 
for  tho  sacred  light  was  good,  and  Ho  had  sent  it. 
Henceforward,  they  hear,  it  was  appointed  that  the  light 
and  tho  darkness  should  each  have  its  sep.'irate  place,'  its 
special  nature,  and  its  fixed  time  of  appearing.  So  day 
and  night  are  abke  th-  ^tift  of  God,  and  both  nliko 
are  full  of  Tr'a  m^mncu.  Prim  ^val  d  (rkn(  ss,  before 
which  they  had  tr<\nVbK{l,  He  has  called  night,  "  tho 
veiled  and  dark  ;*'  tL  .  holy  '  q^ht  is  to  be  known  ms  Djiy, 
"the  shining."  And  so  the  lirst  day  has  ended,  not  as 
with  us,  in  darkness,  but,  as  if  in  auspicious  augury  for 
our  world,  with  tho  bursting  forth  of  tho  new  created 
light. 

And  now,  as  the  voice  of  the  speaker  proceeds,  a  new 
Bcene  opens.  Tho  wild  and  waste  landscapes  of  chaos 
stretch  out,  cleared  of  the  mantle  of  mists  and  vapours 
till  now  lying  dense  upon  them,  and  a  wide  expanse 
appears,  bearing  up  the  clouds  into  which  these  had  been 
transformed.  The  blue  sky  overcanopiea  all,  with  its 
ministries  of  rain  ?nd  dew,  so  gi'iiteful  in  the  burning 
East;  for  the  firmament  is  the  storehouse  of  both,  and  it 
is  thence  that  they  :'  -op  fatness  over  the  land.  How  tho 
waters  rise  and  are  sustained  aloft  tho  simple  Hebrew 
does  not  dream,  except  that  it  is  by  the  power  of  God ; 
nor  does  he  know  more  of  the  aerial  heights  than  that 
they  are  "  the  expanse,"  or  "  the  high,"  in  which  the 
clouds  and  rains  have  their  appointed  place.* 

'  Job  xxvi.  10 ;  xxxviii.  19. 

■  I  cannot  forbear  quoting?  the  following  magnificent  passage 
from  John  Kuskin,  a  man  in  my  opinion  not  less  great  as  a 
prose  poefc,  or  as  the  foremost  art  critic  of  tho  age,  than  for 
the  still  higher  glory  of  his  splr-ndid  ui^sclHslmcBSi  his  constant 


difc 
the 
)re\v 
od; 
liat 
the 


ssago 
ns  a 
for 
stant 


JKWrSH    IDKAS   OP   NATUUR    AND   OF   CREATION. 


63 


There  is  now  sky  and  light,  and  chnos,  but  presently 
thoro  is  another  advance,  sliowiufjf  that  God  is  a  God  of 
order,  workiNg"  out  Ills  ends  by  successi^^e  )-egulated 
steps.     Hiir-  voice  is  anon  heard  commanding  the  waters 

labcrs  in  every  direction  to  benefit  his  fellow  men;  hi.s  ln*'ty 
conception  o'^  ^lie  claims  of  ('liristiaiiity  luid  his  practical  honinge 
to  that  siandiird. 

"Ail  Kiiscicntific  reader  knows  little  about  the  ninnner  in 
which  the  volume  of  the  atmosphere  surrounds  the  earth  ;  but  I 
iinapfine  that  ho  could  hardly  glance  at  the  sky  when  rain  was 
falling  in  the  disiance,  and  see  the  level  line  o\  the  bases  of  the 
clouds  from  which  the  shower  descended,  withou*^  ')ei>ig  able  to 
attach  an  instant  and  easy  meaning  to  the  worn,  't  >ausion  in 
the  midst  of  the  waters.'  Atid  if,  htving  once  si  3ed  3  idea,  he 
proceeded  to  examine  it  more  accurately,  ho  voi. M  perceive  at 
once,  if  he  had  ever  noticed  anything  of  the  nai;U  ">  jf  the  clouds, 
that  the  level  line  of  their  bases  did  indeci'  most  severely  and 
stringently  divide  'waters  fiom  .vaters,'  ih  »:  to  say,  divide 
water  in  its  collected  and  tangible  state  from  water  in  its  divided 
and  aerial  state;  or  the  waters  which  fall  and  tlow  from  those 
which  rise  awd  float.  I  understand  the  making  the  firmament  to 
signify  that  (so  far  as  man  is  concerned)  most  miignificent  ordi- 
Eance  of  the  clouds;  the  ordinance  that  as  the  great  plain  of 
waters  was  formed  in  the  face  of  the  earth,  so  also  a  plain  of 
waters  should  be  stretched  along  the  height  of  air,  and  the  face 
of  the  cloud  answer  the  face  of  the  ocean ;  and  that  this  upper 
and  heavenly  should  be  of  waters,  as  it  were,  glorified  in  their 
nature,  no  longer  quenching  the  fire,  but  now  bearing  fire  in  their 
own  bosoms ;  no  longer  murmuring  only  when  the  winds  raise 
them,  or  rocks  divide,  but  answering  each  other  with  thtir  own 
voices  from  pole  to  pole ;  no  longer  restrained  by  established 
ehorcs,  .T.d  gr.ided  through  unchanging  channels,  but  going 
forth  at  His  pleasure  like  the  armies  of  the  angels  and  choosing 
their  encampments  on  the  height  of  the  bills:  no  longer  hurried 
downwards  for  ever,  nu)ving  but  to  fall,  nor  lost  in  the  lightless 
accumulation  of  the  abyss,  but  covering  the  East  and  the  West 
with  the  waving  of  their  wings,  and  rcbing  the  gloom  of  the 
farther  infinite  with  a  vesture  of  divers  colours,  of  which  the 
threads  are  purple  and  scarlet,  and  the  embroideries  fiame." 


I'M 


if 


64 


JEWISH    IDEAS   OF   NATURE   AND   OF   CREATION. 


>.  41 


to  gather  together  to  one  place,  and  the  dry  land  to  ap- 
pear. The  groat  Seas  and  the  firm  Harth  assume  their 
bounds.  The  mountains  and  dry  land  rise  from  the  deep, 
and  the  waters  that  couch  under,  retire  within  the  girdlo 
of  their  shores.  Israel  learns  thiit  it  was  God  who  by 
Himself  established  the  world  and  set  fast  the  everlasting 
hills. 

Presently  they  hear, —  How,  at  the  Almighty  word,  tho 
elopes  of  the  hills  and  the  sweeping  valleys  are  clothed 
with  the  tender  grass,  strewn  with  flowers,  and  roughened 
with  waving  forests.  Tho  lifting  up  of  the  mountains 
had  created  rivers;  the  calling  forth  of  verdure  and 
shadowing  trees  completes  the  ideal  of  joy  to  these 
children  of  the  burning  East.  How  must  it  have  sunk 
into  the  hpd,rts  of  all,  to  use  the  words  of  their  own  singer 
of  other  ages,  that  it  is  God,  great  and  good, "who  caused 
the  grass  to  grow  for  the  cattle,  and  herb  for  the  service 
of  man,  that  he  may  bring  forth  food  out  of  the  earth, 
and  wine  mat  maketh  glad  the  heart  of  man,  and  oil  that 
maketh  his  face  to  sliine,  and  bread  which  strengtheneth 
man's  heart.''  Could  it  then  have  been  known  that  the 
grasses  which  yield  this  bread  had  been  specially  creatvod 
for  man's  use,  at  his  appearance  on  the  earth,  and  did  not 
belong  to  those  earlier  works  of  God  of  which  we  find  the 
remains  stored  up  for  fuel,  or  bedded  in  the  depths  of  the 
everlasting  hills,  the  gratitude  would  have  been  still  more 
vivid.  For  it  is  a  great  fact  that  while  trees  and  plants 
of  many  kinds  are  found  in  formations  of  all  the  geo- 
logical periods  but  the  earliest,  the  grain-bearing  grasses 
only  came  into  existence  when  man  appeared.  There  is 
not  the  slightest  vestige  of  them  in  any  of  the  strata; 
they  are  found  only  in  surface  deposits,  in  connection 
W'th  the  first  signs  of  human  presence.  Along  with 
fheni  also,  strange  to  say,  are  first  found  the  herbs  that 


1,  ->!' 


I       I 


JEWISH    IDEAS  OF   NATORE   AND   OF   CREATION. 


05 


minister  to  our  pleasure,  of  which  the  sage,  the  marjoram, 
the  mints  and  lavenders,^  are  representatives — and  still 
more  striking,  the  fruits  that  delight  the  taste  and  main- 
tain the  health,  the  apple  and  all  its  rohitod  trees,  tho 
peach,  the  plum,  tho  almond,  the  strawberry,  and  tho 
like.*  The  Hebrew  was  doubtless  filled  with  wonder  at 
the  goodness  that  had  prepared  tho  great  table  of  nature 
for  man  so  richly,  but  wo  may  doubly  feel  it  when  we 
know  that  the  round  earth  was  filled  with  the  finest  of 
the  wheat,  and  adorned  with  roses  and  flowers  and 
luscious  fruits,  and  made  fragrant  with  mint  and  spike- 
nard and  frankincense,  to  greet  man's  birth. 

As  yet,  however,  the  multitudes  had  heard  nothing  of 
the  creation  of  tho  heavens  except  the  spreading  out  of 
the  expanse  above  the  ear^^h.  But  now  they  learn  that  on 
the  fourth  day  God  commanded  the  two  great  "  light- 
bearers  "  of  the  sky,  and  the  great  host  of  the  stars,  to 
shine  forth,  and  servo  their  purpose  to  the  new  created 
world.  Other  nations  worshipped  them  as,  themselves, 
living  and  divine,  but  it  was  not  to  be  so  in  Israel.  They 
were  only  the  creation  of  God's  hand,  and  the  obedient 
servants  of  His  will.  To  man  they  would  cheer  day  and 
night — the  sun,  the  ruler  of  the  day,  the  moon  the  queen 
of  tiight ;  the  stars,  so  preternaturally  bright  in  Eastern 
lauds,  attending  her  and  adding  to  the  brightness.  They 
would,  moreover,  serve  for  Signs,  to  mark  out  the  heavenly 
spaces,  to  v/arn  men  of  the  storm,  or  give  them  hopes  of 
brightness,  and  by  their  eclipses  and  changes,  to  teach 
the  ways  of  God — and  they  would  fix  the  Times,  through- 
out the  year,  for  man's  ordinances  or  employments  j  the 
weeks,  the  months,  the  years  themselves,  the  days  of 
festivals  and  worship,  with  much  besides.     The  keynote 

*  The  LabiataB. 

•  The  Rosacea9.    See  Macmillan'a  Bible  in  Nature,  p.  100. 

VOL.   I.  i 


i 


i 


ir 


i» 


'•V> 


1  '"'   i 
'  1    ■ 

;l! 

m 


66 


JKWIHH    IDKA8    OF   N/VTURB    AND   OP   CKKATION. 


til  lis  atiuc;k  gave  tho  tono  hcnocforvvard  to  tlio  relations 
of  Isniel  to  iiiituro  worship.  The  vaulted  heavens  wore 
but  the  work  of  God's  fingers:  He  had  ordained  the 
moon  and  the  stars.  What  an  education  for  a  people; 
filling  their  hearts  with  thoughts  till  then  unknown  I 

Tho  heavens,  lighted  with  sun  and  raoon,  and  sown 
with  stars,  now  shine  down  on  tho  earth,  but  as  yet  there 
is  no  life.  All  things,  however,  are  now  ready  for  it,  and 
tho  sacred  roll  tells  forthwith,  how  God,  advancing  step 
by  step,  in  Divine  order,  next  spoke  into  being  all  things 
that  fly,  and  all  that  swim ;  tlio  tribes  of  the  air  and  of 
the  waters — the  two  blue  oceans,  one  over,  one  around ; 
the  birds  and  other  creatures,  small  and  great,  to  sail 
through  tho  one ;  the  fishes  and  sea  beasts,  through  the 
other.  Nor  can  wo  think  there  would  be  wanting  a 
response  of  reverent  filial  love,  when  it  was  heard  that 
the  Eternal,  forthwith,  blessed  His  new  made  creatures. 
It  would  be  theirs  to  be  fruitful  and  multiply,  and  fill  the 
seas  and  the  earth.  The  teeming  increase  of  the  finny 
tribes  was  due  to  the  bounty  of  Elohitn,  and  He  had 
given  the  bird  its  joyous  life  in  the  wide  air.  All  are 
His,  and  all  look  up  to  Him.  The  thought  thus  awakened 
sank  into  the  national  mind.  In  after  ages  the  Hebrew 
poet  was  to  sing  :  — 

Beside  the  springs  which  Thou  sendcsb  iuoo  the  valleys, 

The  springs  which  run  among  tho  hills,    .     •    . 

The  fowls  of  the  air  have  their  habitation. 

Which  sing  among  tho  branches.     .     .    . 

In  the  great  and  wide  sea — 

Are  creeping  things  innumerable, 

Both  small  and  great.    There  go  the  ships, 

There  is  that  leviathan  which  Thou  hast  made  to  play  therein. 

These  wait  all  upon  Thee  I 

That  Thou  may'sb  give  them  their  moat  iii  -iue  season.* 



»  Ps.  civ.  10, 12,  25-27. 


il 


JEW  1811    lUHAS   OF   NATUKB    AND   OF    CKKATION. 


07 


The 


air  and  tho  waters  now  rejoice  in   living  trilx'S, 
las  as  yet  no  such  gludiiesH.     Now, 


but  tlio  earth  itHelf 


h()\V(<ver,  God  brings  forth  from  it  living  ciTaturos  of  all 
kinds;  cattle  and  creeping  thing,  and  beast  of  tho  earth  ; 
the  wild  tribes  of  tho  woods  and  of  the  deser^a  ;  cattle  of 
all  kinds  for  the  use  of  man,  but  also  the  scTpents  and 
worms,  and  footless  creeping  things ;  and  once  more 
pronounces  His  blessing  on  all.  Even  the  dreaded 
reptile  and  the  humble  worm,  and  the  fierce  tribes  of  tho 
woods  are  His  creatures,  as  well  as  the  useful  and  loved. 
All  things  are  from  Him  alone  1  No  evil  spirit  has  had 
a  share  in  Nature,  as  the  nations  have  dreamed.  The 
heavens  with  their  lights ;  tho  earth  with  its  mountains 
and  seas,  its  cedars  and  fruitful  trees  ;  the  waters  with 
their  swarming  populations ,  tho  air  with  its  multitudinous 
life,  already  praised  the  Creator ;  and  now  the  cattle  on  a 
thousand  hills,  and  the  beasts  of  the  forest  are  added  to 
the  number  of  His  works.  Lesson  is  quickly  following 
lesson,  to  form  tho  creed  of  humanity.  Centuries  after, 
such  teaching  finds  an  echo  in  the  words  of  Job,  so 
well  had  it  been  learned^ 

Ask  now  the  beasts,  that  they  may  teach  thee, 

The  birds  of  the  heaven,  that  they  may  let  thee  know; 

Or  inquire  of  tho  earth,  that  it  may  instruct  thee, 

And  let  the  fishes  of  the  sea  give  thee  knowledge  :— 

Who  knows  not,  among  all  these, 

That  the  hand  of  God  hath  created  the  whole  P 

He,  in  whose  hands  are  the  souls  of  all  living  things, 

And  the  breath  of  all  mankind  I  * 

But  among  all  the  creatures  none  had  yet  appeared 
able  to  lionc'  ir  and  worship  the  great  Creator.  Each  race 
depended  on  a  higher,   but  the  highest  of  beings  yet 

'  Jobxii.  7-10.  Ewald's  version.  The  date  of  Job  is  apparently 
the  7Lh  century,  B.C.    So,  G.  Baur,  Merse,  Ewald,  Bleck,  i)e  Wetto. 


!' 


i 


i, 
1 

i 

i 

1 '  ^ 

ill 

T  il 


68 


JEWISH   IDEAS   OF  NATURE   AND  OF  CREATION. 


h  ! 


made  had  neither  reason  nor  the  faculties  of  spiritual 
life.  Now,  however,  it  is  told  how  man  was  created  in 
God's  image,  of  the  dust  of  the  ground,  and  endowed 
with  a  living  soul  from  the  breath  of  the  Almighty 
Himself.  What  that  "  image  "  meano  to  the  Hebrew 
it  is  easy  to  imagine.  God  had  been  revealed  to  him 
as  holy  and  just  and  pure,  and  he  felt  in  his  own  breast 
the  capacity  to  know  what  such  attributes  meant,  and 
to  imitate  them  in  his  own  soul.  God  was  the  Highest 
wisdom,  and  he  felt  that  he  had  himself  caught  a  beam 
of  His  nature  in  the  possession  of  reason  with  all  its 
powers.  God  was  the  Sovereign  Lord  of  man  himself, 
of  all  the  creatures,  and  of  the  inanimate  glories  of 
heaven  and  earth.  The  Hebrew  felt  that  in  this  respect 
he  was  the  representative  of  the  Creator  to  the  animal 
world  ;*  for  all  feared  him — all  were  made  subject  to  him 
or  might  be  made  so,  for  pleasure,  or  for  use.  He  had 
seen,  in  Egypt,  the  lion  trained  to  hunt  for  his  master, 
and  leave  the  prey  he  caught  uneaten,  himself  returning 
to  his  master^s  side,^  the  cat  trained  to  fetch  the 
wounded  bird  from  the  thickets  of  the  Nile,  and  even 
the  hyoBna  tamed  and  made  of  use.^  He  had  watched 
Jie  Egyptian  harpoon  and  noose  the  huge  hippopotamus, 
and  catch  and  drag  by  force,  to  shore,  the  hideous  croco- 
dile.* Even  the  powers  of  nature  were  strangely  subject 
to  his  will, — for  the  air  filled  the  sail,  the  rocks  were 
quarried  into  temples,  the  mines  yielded  their  wealth, 
and  the  wisdom  of  the  Egyptian  priests  had  searched 
out   many  secrets    of   plants,   and   minerals,    and   even 

*  Goethe's  saying  in  this  lighi-,  is  striking  :  "  Man  is  the  dog's 
god." 

*  Wilkinson's  Ancient  Egyptians,  vol.  i.  p.  221. 
»  Ibid,  vol.  i.  p.  238. 

*  Ibid.,  vol.  i.  pp.  241-3. 


JEWISH    IDEAS    OP  NATURE   AND   OP   CliEATION. 


C9 


some  mysteries  of  the  distant  stars  and  of  the  planets. 
Such  endowments  bespoke  the  possession  of  the  Inifi^e 
of  God.  But,  if  so  then,  how  much  more  so  now,  vvliou 
man  has  made  tlie  lightning  his  messenger,  and  laid  a 
pathway  for  it  in  the  depths  of  the  seas,  to  run  forth  on 
his  will; — has  tamed  the  thunder; — crosses  the  ocean  in 
the  face  of  wind  and  storm ; — has  climbed  into  the  skies 
and  descended  to  the  bottom  of  the  waters  ;  — has  pierced 
the  hills  to  make  himself  a  way,  and  passes  from  place  to 
place  at  the  speed  of  a  bird. 

Nor  were  the  very  form  of  man, — erect,  noble,  looking 
to  heaven,  for  man  alone  naturally  looks  upwards, — and 
this  fair  body, — only  the  veil  and  image  and  instrument 
of  the  soiil  within, — less  divine.  Between  the  lordly 
Adam  and  all  creatures  else,  how  great  the  gulf ! 

The  Mosaic  account  of  creation  carried  all  this,  and 
much  besides,  to  the  hearts  even  of  those  who  first  received 
it.  So  great  a  revelation  had  never  been  made  to  man, 
for  it  disclosed  the  existence  of  the  One  Eternal,  Holy, 
Just  .aid  Good  God, — a  God  of  wisdom  and  order,  as 
well  as  purity  and  truth,  and  implied  His  right  to  our 
absolute  obedience  and  love,  as  the  work  of  His  hands. 
There  remained  only  another  self-disclosure,  of  still 
greater  condescension,  when  He  declared  Himself  to 
mankind  in  the  person  of  His  incarnate  Son.  ^ 

*  On  the  ideas  of  creation  among  those  who  first  heard  the 
record  of  Genesis,  see  Herder's  Alteste  Urkunde  des  Menscheii' 
gescldechts,  pt.  i. 


li 


H 


f.1 


14> 


t  I 


CHAPTER  YI. 


THE   AGE   OP   THE   WORLD. 


THE  mysterious  era  of  the  creation  of  the  world  must 
be  kept  carefully  distinct  from  that  of  the  creation 
of  man.  With  the  former  Scripture  has  nothing  to  do ; 
the  latter  is  abundantly  vindicated  by  the  corroboration 
of  advancing  knowledge. 

But  while  the  inconceivable  remotcLess  of  the  creation 
of  our  earth,  and  the  vast  periods  through  which  it 
has  been  slowly  brought  to  the  condition  in  which  man 
appeared  on  it,  are  subjects  apart  from  the  direct  scope 
of  Bible  illustratic  n,  they  so  vividly  aid  us  to  realize  the 
greatness  and  glory  of  the  Creator,  that  a  few  pages 
devoted  to  them  cannot  be  out  of  place. 

The  discoveries  of  geology  have  conclusively  proved 
that  periods  vast  beyond  imagination  must  have  elapsed 
since  the  first  stages  of  the  history  of  our  earth.  The 
thickness  of  the  solid  crust  of  rocks,  which  hides  the 
fiery  secrets  of  the  interior,  has  been  variously  estimated 
at  from  a  few  miles,  to  six  hundred,  or  even  two  thousand 
five  hundred,^  but  the  wide  contrast  in  these  estimates 
is,  itself,  enough  to  show  how  little  reliance  can  be  placed 
on  any  of  them.     Yet  it  mi:at  have  taken  incalculable 

*  The  second  is  the  view  of  Mr.  Hopkin.s,  the  third  that  of 
Sir  Wm.  Thompson. 

70 


lie 


)le 
of 


THE   AGE   OP   THE    WORLD. 


71 


ages  for  the  glowing  surface  to  have  cooled  sufficiently 
to  make  prssible  even  tlie  first  of  the  great  sedimentary 
deposits,  forming  the  lowest  stratified  rocks.  Nor  could 
the  oldesfc  water-formed  beds  now  surviving  be  the  efirliest 
rocks  that  existed,  for  they  must  of  course,  themselves, 
have  been  the  result  of  the  slow  wearing  away  of  others 
still  earlier. 

Avoiding  as  much  as  possible  anything  like  difficult 
terms,  the  story  of  our  earth,  so  far  as  hitherto  made  out 
by  science,  leads  us,  apparently,  to  a  time  when  the  vast 
round  on  which  we  live  was  oniy  slowly  condensing,  by 
the  various  attractions  and  revolutions  of  the  solar  system. 
Men  of  eminence  favour  the  idea  that  worlds  like  ours 
were  gradually  consolidated  from  the  nebulous  matter 
which  abounds  in  all  regions  of  the  heavens;  believing 
that  the  currents  and  eddies  of  the  universe,  aiding  the 
attractions  and  combinations  of  matter,  were  the  agencies 
used  by  the  Almighty  in  their  original  imperceptible 
growth  and  building  up.  It  is  argued,  indeed,  that  this 
very  process  is  now  seen  going  on  in  one  case,  at  least, 
among  the  planets — that  of  Saturn,  and  that  the  nebulce 
so  common,  and  so  marked  by  their  spiral  or  whorl-like, 
or  fantastic  shapes ;  if  in  some  cases  aggregates  of  stars, 
are  in  others  the  loose  material  of  growing  worlds. 
Nor  is  there  anything  contrary  to  Scripture  in  such  a 
theory,  for  we  are  told  nothing  of  the  mode  in  which 
God  created  the  universe,  whether  perfect  at  once,  or 
growing  and  blossoming  into  worlds  by  the  slow  ripen- 
ing of  wliat  to  us  would  be  iunuiMerable  ages.  He  carves 
out  mountains  and  valleys,  now,  by  the  slow  and  feeble 
agencies  of  winds  and  rain"^  and  dews  :  why  should  He 
not,  if  He  choose,  build  up  worlds  with  as  calm  deliber- 
ation, through  the  unresting,  unhasting  progress  of  Hia 
own  laws  ?     Enough  for  us  that  the  matter  that  forma 


',1  ifi 


^    \. 


THE   AGE   OP  THE   WORLD. 


tlicm  is  His  creation,  and  the  skill  that  moulds  that 
matter  into  the  wonders  of  a  world,  His  alone. 

The  first  clear  view  we  obtain  of  the  early  condition  of 
the  earth,  shows  us  a  ball  of  matter,  fluid  with  inttnso 
heat,  spinning  on  its  own  axis  and  revolving  round  the 
Bun.^  How  long  this  state  of  things  continued  is  beyond 
calculation  or  surmise,  but  it  ia  evident  that  a  period  of 
immense  length  must  have  passed  before  the  heated  mass 
had  so  far  cooled  down  and  hardened  as  to  present  a  solid 
foundation  for  the  future  elaboration  of  God's  plans. 
The  restless  waters  which  now  fill  the  vast  hollows  of 
the  earth'-  surface,  or  glide  through  its  valleys,  m'.^v 
have  existed  for  ages  only  as  a  dense  curtain  of  steam, 
fihrouding  and  nniffl'ng  the  glowing  centre  beneath.  But 
contraction,  due  to  cooling  would,  meanwhile,  rend  and 
shrivel  the  world  into  the  rough  iiess  of  hill  and  dale, 
while  the  fiery  euei'gies  within  wo:^^!!  upfieave  its  surface 
into  mountains  or  depi'ess  it  inV>  ocean  beds. 

When,  at  last,  the  cooling  of  the  surface  permitted  the 
waters  to  condense  and  descend,  the  first  step  in  the 
formation  of  the  vast  beds  of  rock  which  now  form  an 
{  aggi'^'gi^-te  thickness  of  miles,  began.  Rains,  ocean  cur- 
rents, the  action  of  the  air,  and  the  tt<>w  of  rivers  and 
torrents,  commenced  their  slow  labou/*  in  th«  wearing 
away  this  ea.liest  land,  and  carrying  it  into  the  watery 
depths,  to  be  spread  out  in  layers,  or  "  strata.*'  How 
Boon  life  appeared  is  unknown,  for  the  lowest  water-born 
or  "  stratified  ''  rocks  are  so  changed  in  their  substance 
by  the  fierce  heat  then  prevailing,  that  all  traces  of  animal 
or  vegetable  organisations  must  have  been  destroyed 
ki  f'hoir  'o'^er  sections.  Vast  accumulations  of  gneiss, 
thousfi:  (i"^  of  i'eet  thick,  the  worn  ruin  of  granite  m«i  in- 
trdi.  ^  httv'sJ-.  the  length  of  this  earliest  chapter  in  world* 


1 


r 

I 
P 


0. 


W.  rioudwin,  li   A.,  Essays  and  Bevicws,  p.  214 


TUE    AGE   OF    THE    WORLD. 


an 

r- 
A 


"^' 


history.  But  even  in  the  beds  of  this  remotest  period — 
known  as  the  Lanreutian  gneiss  of  Lower  Canada — science 
has  discovered  what  seems  to  some  to  be  the  remains  of 
a  living  organism^ — a  curiously  perfect  coralline  structure 
of  a  type  peculiar  to  these  rocks.  The  presence  of  an 
early  vegetation  c^so  seems  implied  in  some  mineral 
remains  that  have  been  found.  The  rocks  in  which  these 
first  known  existences  present  themselves  were,  however, 
doomed,  like  all  things  in  nature,  to  pass  away.  Seamed 
and  furrowed  into  a  mere  skeleton  of  their  oritjinal  vast- 
ness,  they  slowly  sank  again  below  the  ocean,  and  other 
systems  began  to  be  deposited  on  their  broken  (jutline. 
For  it  is  to  bo  remembered  that  the  stony  ribs  of  our 
earth  were  in  no  case  formed  over  all  the  world  at  once, 
but  always,  just  as  at  present,  only  ovci  areas  more  or  less 
restricted.  The  elevations  and  subsidences  of  the  earth's 
surface  have  always  been  local ;  one  portion  rising  as 
another  sank,  in  ansv  er  to  the  retreats  and  advances  of 
the  llery  energies  witl  in.  Further,  each  successive  con- 
tinent, with  its  mount,  ins  and  plains,  has  from  the  first 
been  wearing  away  p  ecenual,  even  before  it  rose  from 
the  ocean  waters,  for  'iie  seas  were  at  work  to  destroy 
their  own  creations  bofore  they  had  emerged  from  their 
depths. 

Fancy,  now,  on  the  broad  back,  or  on  upturned 

edges  of  the  Jowest  existing  strata,  othe  )eds  slowly 
deposited,  from  the  dust  of  mountains  and  v  ' '  eys,  or  from 
the  wreck  of  shells  and  plants,  or  by  slow  hemical  pre- 
cipitation from  the  waters ;  as  in  the  c  ic  of  the  vast 
mountain  depths  of  limestones  in  every  age  of  the  world. 


U? 


V 


M' 


'4, 


in- 
•Id- 


*  Enzoon;  or.  The  Dawn  of  ]/ifi\hy  J.  VV.  Dawsr  .,  LL.D.  (1876). 
Prof.  Alleyu  Nicholson  {Mdiiudl  of  Fahconfoloan,  2nd  ed.,  vol.  i. 
p.  104)  leaves  it  an  open  qtiostion  whether  Eozoou  bo  not  merely 
a  crystalline  marking.     See,  btfore,  page  -44. 


74 


THE  AGE   OF   THE   WORLD. 


Throngli  wliat  spaces  of  time  must  tbe  Alniinrhty  have 
beon  slowly  working  ?  It  has  beou  the  same  alike  with 
.the  long  succession  of  the  rocks,  and  of  the  races  they 
entomb.  Tliese,  also,  have  flourished  for  their  day  and 
then  have  given  place  to  others.  As  with  man  himself,  so 
with  the  scenery  of  the  solid  world.  Each  series  of  land- 
sca])i's  may  have  had  a  longer  day  than  short-lived  hu- 
manity, but  Homer's  fine  comparison  of  the  succession 
of  tlie  generations  of  men  to  the  budding  and  fall  of  the 
leaves  of  summer,  is  as  true  of  the  hills  as  of  the  fading 
race  to  whom  they  seem  eternal. 

liiko  as  the  generation  of  leaves,  so  also  that  of  men; 
For  the  wind  strews  thp  leaves  on  the  ground;  but  the  forest, 
Putting  forth  frosh  buds,  grows  on,  and  spring  will  presently 

return. 
Thus  with  the  generation  of  men;  the  one  blooms,  the  other  fades 
away.* 

Tlic  Huronian  and  Cambrian  periods  show  an  aggregate 
deptii  of  from  four  to  six  miles  of  slate  rocks  and  hard 
sand.stoues,  often  greatly  changed  by  the  internal  heat  of 
the  I  arth,  but  all  formed,  through  ages  we  cannot  even 
im.'iL;  iiie,  by  the  same  immeasurably  slow  process  by  which 
siuiiiar  Lods  aro  doubtless  even  now  rising,  at  the  bot- 
tom of  some  lake  or  sea,  from  the  mud,  clay,  sand  and 
pebbles  of  existing  mountains  and  valleys,  borne  into 
them  by  rivers  and  floods.  Stone  lilies,  bivalve  shells, 
the  casts  and  pipes  of  worms  and  polyps,  shrimp-like 
shapes,  shells  like  limpets,  and  slight  impressions  of  one 
knows  not  what  other  simple  organisms,  or  possibly  of 
seaw'eds,  alone  remain  as  witnesses  of  the  life  of  thes« 
anci'ut  seas. 

But  the  world  of  these  ages  slowly  passed  av/ay, 
and  in  its  place,  as  slowly,  rose  that  of  the  Lower  and 

>  Iliad,  vi.  146. 


THE   AGE    OF   THE    WORLD. 


76 


•y^ 


Upper  Silurian  periods,  represented  by  an  immense  scries 
of  slate  rocks,  flagstones,  and  sandstones,  lime-stones, 
and  ■  conglomerates,  many  thousand  feet  in  tliickness. 
Simple  shells  and  humble  creatures,  perfect  in  their 
structure,  but  allied  to  no  higher  classes  than  shrimps, 
crabs,  and  lobsters,  or  to  sea  urchins  and  starfishes, 
reigned  for  ages  as  the  prevniling  types  of  the  life  of  the 
Lower  Silurian  seas,  while  the  stone  lilies,akind  of  starfish 
growing  in  a  jointed  stem,  with  its  body  bent  into  a  cup, 
and  its  fingers  divided  into  numerous  jointed  strings  and 
threads,  became  the  most  noted  living  form  of  the  earlier 
ages  of  the  Upper  period.  But  the  types  of  life  prevail- 
ing in  the  lower  beds  already  show,  in  these  earliest  ages, 
the  constant  law  of  evanescence  which  marks  all  thingB 
in  nature  ;  for  some  had,  even  thus  soon,  passed  almost 
wholly  away.  Others,  however,  as  if  to  assert  the  unity 
of  design  which  reigns  ^rom  first  to  luyj  J;;  creation,  still 
survive,  through  all  the  changes  of  lani  and  sea  which 
have  so  often  made  and  remade  our  earth.  But  now 
forms  appear  in  the  Upper  Silurian  and  Devoniat}  beds, 
marking  an  advance  in  the  Creator's  plans.  Along  with 
the  remains  of  huge  lobster-like  creatures,  are  found  the 
teeth  and  shagreen  offish  allied  to  the  shark,  and  the  inde- 
structible forms  of  others,  of  a  type  perhaps  marking  an 
age  when  the  ocean  was  as  yet  far  warmer  than  now- 
fish  clad  in  bony  mail,  doubtless  the  terror  of  the  seas 
they  inhabited.  Creatures  of  the  vertebral^  type,  though 
of  its  humblest  order,  had  thus  at  last  appeared.  The 
Devonian  rocks  or  Old  Ked  Sandstone,  in  their  thieknesa 
of  at  least  two  miles,  show  many  types  of  these  strange 
forms ;  but  there  is  a  further  advance  in  nature  by  tho 
appearance  of  the  earliest  known  tree  vegetation,  a  true 
cone-bearer.^      Plants,  like    humble    club    mosses   and 


n 


IP 


I 


I  ^i 


Testimony  of  the  BocJfs,  p.  11. 


'i   ■    f' 


-•H 


iii. 


:t  i 


76 


THE    AGE    OP   THE   WORLD. 


minute  ferns,  are  found  in  the  lower  beds,  and  these  are 
followed  by  largo  ferns,  and  by  analogues  of  the  fir 
or  pine,  whoso  dark  shadow  was  tho  first  cast  on  our 
workl,  so  far  as  we  know,  by  any  kind  of  tree.  In  tho 
u])per  bods,  indeed,  trees  are  found  allied  to  our  hard- 
wood varieties,  and  representatives  flourished  of  almost 
all  the  great  families  of  plants  which  grow  at  present. 
There  were  even  winged  insects. 

The  Coal-forming  Ages  now  began  to  heap  up  their 
various  beds,  in  succession,  on  the  Old  Hod  Sandstone, 
to  a  depth  of  one  and  a  half  to  two  and  a  half  miles.^ 
The  outburst  of  vegetation  iluring  this  era  speaks  of 
a  condition  of  air  and  oavth  unknown  before  or  since. 
The  heavy  veil  of  clouds  that  had  hitherto  shrouded  the 
world  must  have  gradually  become  thinned  and  broken 
by  the  advauciug  coolness  of  tho  earth,  pernatting  tho 
sun  to  shine  down  more  and  more  brightly.  The  at- 
m\  phere  would  still,  however,  be  loaded  with  a  great 
excess  of  carbonic  acid  gas,  and  the  climate  over  tho 
whole  world  must  have  been  close  and  sultry,  ivom  tho 
radiation  of  the  still  high  internal  heat.  Local  climate, 
or  zones  of  gvoator  heat  and  cold,  were  as  yet  unknown, 
for  coal  is  found  in  every  latitude,  from  the  poles  to  the 
equator.  Indeed,  it  is  a  striking  fact  that  from  the  earliest 
ages  to  that  of  the  Chalk  there  is  no  evidence  of  any 
belts  of  climate  like  those  familiar  to  us  now.  The  arctic 
zone,  throughout  all  this  immeasurable  period,  had  the  same 
warmth  as  the  then  existing  Switzerland.'  The  earth 
seems  indeed,  during  these  vast  cycles,  to  have  drawn  a 
continuous  summer  from  its  own  warmth,  rather  than  from 
the  sun  nlom\  Nearly  half  the  plants  of  the  coal  ag(?s 
weri>  ferns,  but  some  of  them  grew  as  high  us  trees,  while 

>  Jiiko.sW;,,)7.)r;//,  p.  222. 

*  Hocr's  Vtiitu  val  World  v^'  Swlizeriand,  vol.  ii.  p.  268. 


<H 


TU£   AUB    OF   THE   WORLD. 


77 


gij^antlc  club  mosses  and  horsetails  vied  with  Imt^o  pines, 
ot'ten  risin<»'  over  a  liundreJ  feet  from  the  liuuiid  und 
stoiimiiig  soil.  Vlong  with  these  a  ihw  proportion  ol 
liuml)U>r  plants  grew  into  deep  beds,  filling  up  lakes  and 
morasses,  age  ai'tor  age,  till  the  sh)W  sinking  ot  tho  gro\iud 
covered  them  with  the  silt  and  mud  beneath  which  they 
now  lio  buried.  Coal-bt'ds,  indeed,  are  simply  forests  and 
feus  that  have  flourished  near  the  water's  edge,  and  have 
settled  so  impereeptibly,  that  the  rot  ts  of  the  trees  still 
remain  in  the  soil  as  they  grew,  and  even  light  seeds  of 
plants  have  not  been  drifted  away.  But  how  long  must 
it  have  taken  for  the  growth  of  such  masses  of  vegetation 
as  now  iovm  thick  beds  of  coal,  under  I  he  pressure  of  vast 
layers  of  rock  ?  And  what  periods  are  re])resented  by  the 
sinking  of  these  beds  to  the  depths  at  which  we  now  find 
them.  Seedtime  and  harvest  were  as  measured  in  their 
succession  then  as  now.  Life  had  its  seven  ages  in  the 
vnrious  creatures  existing,  as  in  their  analogues  now. 
8piders  hunted  their  prey  among  the  leaves,  butterllieg 
flitted  in  the  glades,  fish  swarmed  in  the  waters  then  us 
to-day.  Yet  the  ages  on  ages  of  the  Coal  Measures  are 
only  a  day  in  the  history  of  our  world  1 

Space  will  not  permit  the  g^ing  into  longer  detail ;  ft 
few  paragraphs  more  must  sutlice.  Even  yet  we  have  not 
reached  the  limits  of  what  is  called  the  Primary  epoch  of 
geology.  Above  the  Coal  Measure?*  Ue  Sandstones  and 
the  Magnesian  limestone  400  and  -'UO  feet  thick,  with 
higher  types  of  fish,  formed  in  all  respects  like  those  of 
the  presmr..  Conglomerate  rocks,  formed  of  fragments 
of  others,  lie  also  heaped  up  to  the  thickness  of  1,000  feet, 
but,  above  this  vast  aggregate  still  rise  before  us  tlu;  gi'eat 
series  of  rocks  known  as  those  of  the  periods  of  "  middle  *' 
and  of  '*  recent "  life.^  'Three  thousand  feet  of  muvls,  sand- 

*  The  three  naiues  are  Palaiozoio,  Mesozoic,  and  Kaiuozoic. 


i 


>■" 


•  (_ 

;   i .  (I 


|(  THE   AGE    OF   THE    WORLD. 

stones,  l)C(ls«  of  pchhloa,  freostono,  and  j^rcat  bccla  of  rock 
suit  and  j^ypsmn,  known  as  the  Now  UimI  Sandstone  or 
I'riassic  rocks,  now  meet  ns.  Tlie  Oolites  come  next, 
8,000  teet  thick,  sliowing*  tlie  first  birds  and  (jnailrupeds, 
and  the  reij^n  of  reptiles  huge  almost  as  whales  ;  then  tho 
Chalk  with  its  clays,  etc.,  to  a  thickness  of  1,200  feet.  Tho 
Period  of  Recent  Life  only  now  begins ;  its  lowest  rocks 
showing  only  5  per  cent,  of  their  fossils  still  existing. 
These  beds  represent,  in  Britain,  about  2,500  feet  of  sands, 
clays,  grits,  limestone,  marls,  etc.  From  20  to  30  per 
cent,  of  the  fossils  of  tho  next  period  still  survive.  In 
Britaiii  these  rocks  are  poorly  represented,  but  in  Switzer- 
land a  sinjylo  mass  of  conijflomerato  belontxin*?  to  them 
is  0,000  feet  thick.  Beds  succeed  with  more  than  50  per 
cent,  of  their  fossils  still  surviving ;  a  series  poorly  seen 
in  the  British  islands,  but  showing  a  thickness  of  2,000 
feet  in  some  of  their  single  members,  in  Italy.  Tho 
newest  formations  are  now  at  length  reached,  in  which 
90  per  cent,  of  the  fossils  still  exist.  Sands,  clays,  and 
drifts,  compose  these  beds,  which  reach  to  the  surface 
and  end  the  wondrous  story  of  the  earth. * 

It  must  be  remembered  that  none  of  the  long  series 
of  rocks  thus  enumerated  have  been  formed  over  more 
than  isolated  portions  of  the  earth^s  surface  at  a  time. 
The  crust  has  been,  in  fact,  in  a  constant  upheaval  or  de- 
pression in  its  different  parts — the  ocean  of  one  age  becom- 
ing the  dry  land  of  another ;  and  each  successive  formation 


*  Hush  Miller  notes  {Test,  of  the  Uoclcs,  p.  14)  that  the  order  of 
succession  of  animal  life  in  the  rocks  is  exactly  that  of  Cuvier. 
Thus  :— 
Geological  arrangement — Hadiata,    Articulata,    Mollusca,   Fish, 

lleptiles,  Birds,  Mammals,  Man. 
Cuvier's  f»  Kadiafca,    Articulata,    Mollusca,    Fish, 

Reptiles,  Birds,  Mammals,  Man. 


THE   AGE    OP   THK   WOULD. 


Is  orly  tbo  wreck  of  others  ofau  earlier  (L  to.  The  slow- 
ness of  this  process  is  selt'-evideiit  IVoin  the  very  striiciuio 
of  the  rocks,  wliether  composed  of  the  saud  of  earlier 
deposits,  gently  sinking  to  the  bottom  of  tho  ocean  ;  of 
chalk  slowly  accnninhited  in  infinitesimal  particles,  per- 
haps in  great  part  from  tho  remains  of  shells  after  tlicir 
occnpauts  had  died,  or  of  the  mountain  masses  of  lime- 
stone, chemically  separated,  in  unporceived  advances,  IVtnn 
tho  ocean  or  terrestrial  waters.  How  long  would  it  tiko 
to  wear  away  the  hills,  and  spread  them  out  on  tho  lloor 
of  tho  ocean,  in  tho  shape  of  gneiss,  or  slato,  or  sand- 
stono?  And  when  thus  spread  out,  how  long  wouM  it 
require  to  harden  them  into  rock,  and  after  wearing  tlicm 
away  by  ocean  currents,  to  lift  them,  during  a  slow  up- 
heaval, often  to  thousands  of  feet  above  tho  sea,  ther(?  to 
be  still  further  worn  down,  by  the  rains  and  the  elements, 
into  hills  and  v.-dleys  f 

But  tho  fossils  which  tho  rocks  contain  are  them- 
selves an  indisputable  chronology.  Beginning,  so  far 
as  we  know,  with  marine  polypi  and  worms,  or  perli.ips 
with  coralloids,  life  has  never  since,  through  unciplier- 
able  ages,  been  wanting  on  our  planet.  As  the  miles 
of  deposits  were  slowly  thrown  down  on  the  tloor  of 
the  ancient  deep,  film  by  film,  the  ever-deepening  ooze 
swarmed  with  busy  existence.  Whole  beds  of  rock,  with 
an  aggregate  thickness  of  hundreds,  if  not  thousands,  of 
feet,  are  made  up  of  shells,  which  witness  by  tlieir  perl'tct 
preservation  how  calmly  the  lives  of  their  owners  suc- 
cessively passed  away.  The  polishing  stone  from  Bo- 
hemia, which  we  know  as  Tripoli,  is  only  an  accumula- 
tion of  the  flinty  coverings  of  organisms  known  as  di- 
atoms, so  minute  that  no  less  than  41,000,000,000  of  tlicm 
go  to  make  up  a  single  cubic  inch  of  stone/  and  there 
*  Nicholson's  Manual,  vol.  i.  p.  23. 


ii 

4l| 


:i) 


•I 
M 

H  ! 


IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-3) 


1.0 


I.I 


kiUTB     H2.5 
■tt  Uii    12.2 


lU 

us 


lAO 


IIP 


III  1.25  III  U    |,.6 

^ 

6" 

. ^ 

7 


Photographic 

Sdaices 

Corporation 


23  WIST  MAIN  STRIET 

WfBSTER,N.Y.  14SM 

(716)I72-4S03 


^^' 

% 


^ 


80 


THE    AGE    OP   THE   WORLD. 


aro  similar  deposits  of  great  extent,  and  thirty  feet  in 
thickness,  in  Virginia,  where  the  bed  is  known  as  the 
"  Infusorial  Earth."  i  The  *'  Greensands  "  of  the  Chalk 
and  other  periods,  in  the  same  way,  are  found  to  consist 
in  great  part  of  the  casts  of  minute  shells  from  which  the 
lime  has  been  dissolved,  a  phenomenon  which  is  being 
even  now  repeated  in  various  parts  at  the  bottom  of 
existing  oceans — each  grain  being  the  cast  of  a  single 
shell.2  It  seems  very  probable,  moreover,  that  some  of 
the  great  clayey  accumulations  of  past  geological  form- 
ations may  be  really  the  remains  of  minute  shells.  Many 
enormously  thick  beds  of  limestone,  extending  over  vast 
spaces,  are,  also,  simply  the  wreck  of  countless  millions  of 
similar  humble  forms  of  life.  Our  chalk  is  an  example, 
and  so  is  a  similar  deposit  still  being  formed  over  large 
areas  of  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific,  at  great  depths,  almost 
wholly  from  the  debris  of  minute  shells.  Whole  lime- 
stone ranges  in  Russia,  America,  and  Britain,  owe  their 
origin  to  no  more  dignified  a  source.  They  are  built 
up  of  the  shells  of  Foraminifera.  The  petroleum  so 
largely  obtained  in  North  America  has  not  improbably 
an  animal  origin,  and  the  "  bituminous  schists  "  of  Caith- 
ness are  impregnated  with  oily  matter,  apparently  derived 
from  the  decomposition  of  masses  of  fish  in  them,  through 
long  periods.^  The  Nummulite  *  limestone  of  the  Tertiary 
period  attains  a  thickness  of  many  thousand  feet,  and  ex- 
tends from  the  Alps  to  the  Carpathians,  while  it  plays  a 
great  part  in  the  formation  of  mountains  and  hills  in  Asia 
Minor,  Persia,  India  and  Africa.  Yet  it  is  the  creation  of 
innumerable  disk  or  money-like  shells,  mostly  very  small. 
Nor  is  the  record  of  dim  and  almost  endless  ages  in 
the  vegetation  which  the  rocks  embosom  less  striking. 

*  Nicholsor.'s  Manual^  vol.  ii.  p.  430. 


Ibid. 


vo, 


p.  27. 


2  Ibid.,  vol.  i.  p.  25. 
Fiom  Nummus,  money,  Latin. 


\ 


\. 


THE   AGE    OF  THE    WORLD. 


81 


How  long,  for  example,  let  it  agoin  be  asked,  would 
it  require  to  grow  the  amazing  harvest  of  stem  and  leaf 
represented  by  the  coal-fields  met  with  in  every  part  of 
the  world — offering  fuel  in  quantities  so  vast  as  to  be 
inexhaustible  for  many  ages  to  come,  were  the  populations 
of  every  country  in  which  they  occur  to  use  them  ?  '"'  Or, 
how  long,  again,  would  it  need  for  the  "  denudations," 
or  washing  and  wearing  away  of  immense  thicknesses  of 
rock,  by  whatever  agencies,  which  we  see  repeated  at 
every  step  in  the  history  of  the  earth  ?  A  single  case 
may  bring  this  vividly  to  the  mind.  The  appearance  of 
massive  caps  of  Old  Red  Sandstone  on  the  tops  of  the 
highest  hills  of  Sutherland,  and  the  occurrence  of  similar 
isolated  patches  at  remotely  separated  points  over  a  wide 
range  of  country,  irresistibly  point  to  the  conclusion  that 
these  spots  and  fragments  were  at  one  time  parts  of  a 
vast  sheet  of  stone  which  lay  uniformly  over  the  entire 
region,  from  Ben  Lomond  to  Caithness,  covering  the 
whole  of  the  highlands  of  Scotland.  Everywhere,  the 
islets,  and  peaks,  and  spots,  of  sandstone,  show  marks  of 
vast  denudation.  They  form  an  insulated  patch  in  the 
northern  valley  of  the  Spey ;  they  rise  at  Lochuess  in  an 
immense  mass  of  conglomerate,  to  the  height  of  about 
three  thousand  feet  above  the  sea-level,  and  on  the  north- 
west coast  of  Ross-shire  they  form  three  immense  in- 
sulated hills  at  least  as  high.  These  are  well-nigh  all  that 
remain  of  a  sheet  of  rocks  of  this  vast  depth,  once  over- 
lyiug  all  this  far- stretching  tract.  *'  I  entertain  little 
doubt,"  says  Hugh  Miller,  *'  that  when  this  loftier  por- 
tion of  Scotland,  including  the  entire  highlands,  first 
presented  its  broad  back  over  the  waves,  the  entire  sur- 
face consisted  exclusively,  from  one  extremity  to  the  other, 
of  a  continuous  tract  of  Old  Red  Sandstone,  though, 
3re  the  land  finally  emerged,  the  ocean  currents  of  ages 


VOL.    I. 


i: 


82 


THE   AGE   OF    THE    WORLD, 


had  swept  away  all,  except  in  the  lower  and  last  raised 
borders,  and  in  the  detached  localities  where  it  yet  re- 
mains." ^  But  what  period  can  we  imagine  as  sufficiently 
long  for  ocean  waves  to  wear  away  and  carry  again  into 
the  depths,  a  vast  bed  of  rock  stretching  over  a  whole 
country  to  the  depth  of  three  thousand  feet !  If  anything 
can  help  us  to  realize  that  a  thousand  years  are  with  the 
great  God  as  one  day  is  to  us,  it  is  a  fact  like  this. 

That,  in  the  main,  the  causes  in  operation  around  us 
in  nature  to-day,  have  been  those  prevailing  in  the  past, 
seems  beyond  dispute.  The  formation  of  the  eyes,  and 
the  structure  of  the  teeth,  and  of  the  skeletons  of  fossil 
mollusks,  fish,  reptiles,  birds,  and  quadrupeds,  show  a 
uniformity  of  plan  in  all  the  works  of  the  Almighty  from 
the  beginning,  while  the  marks  of  raindrops  on  what 
was  once  the  soft  sea-beach,  and  the  structure  of  trees 
and  plants,  likewise  prove  that  nature  was  always  the 
same.  Yet  it  may  be  readily  granted  that  we  cannot 
justly  apply  the  experience  of  the  present  to  the  earlier 
periods  of  our  earth,  since  the  conditions  were  so  utterly 
different.  A  world  cooling  from  incandescence,  and  an 
atmosphere  charged  with  dense  vapour,  slowly  condensing 
into  oceans,  are  elements  in  geological  calculations  which 
make  existing  phenomena  an  unsafe  rule  for  the  distant 
past,  if  pressed  too  far.^  Yet  with  every  abatement,  who 
will  say  in  how  far  back  an  eternity  God  laid  the  found- 
ations of  the  earth  ?  It  is  well  by  turning  our  thoughts 
at  times  to  such  revelations,  to  realize  in  some  measure 
the  exceeding  greatness  and  majesty  of  Him  with  whom 
we  have  to  do.     To  exalt  God  is  to  learn  humility. 

With  these  primeval  ages,  however  extended,  the  nar- 
rative of  creation  in  Genesis  comes  in  no  degree  into 

*  Old  Bed  Sandstone,  p.  49. 

*  This  is  candidly  admitted  by  Professor  Green.    Geology,  p.  522, 


THE   AGB   OF   THfi    WOKLD. 


83 


conflict,  for  there  is  no  limit  set  to  that  "  beginning/'  in 
which  the  heavens  and  the  earth  were  called  into  beinijr. 

With  the  period  at  which  man  was  created  it  is  different. 
The  chronology  of  Scripture,  thence,  till  it  falls  into  that 
of  profane  history,  has  always  been  a  difficult  and  much 
disputed  question.  That  of  the  Hebrew  text  givos  a 
period  of  2,021  years  from  the  creation  to  the  journey  of 
Abraham  to  Canaan ;  the  Samaritan  Pentateuch,  2,^322 
years ;  and  the  Greek  Version,  3,507.*  '    - 

The  whole  subject  of  numbers  and  dates  in  connection 
with  the  Old  Testament  is,  in  fact,  a  difficult  one,  partly 
from  the  fact  that  the  sacred  writers  speak  of  descend;. nts 
of  a  given  progenitor  as  his  sons,  in  accordance  Avith 
Eastern  custom,  and  partly,  perhaps,  from  the  use  of 
letters  for  figures  in  the  early  manuscripts.^  The  Jevv8 
did  this  even  after  the  exile,  and  it  is  not  improbable 
that  their  forefathers  did  the  same,  like  the  Greeks,  who 
borrowed  their  alphabet  from  the  Phenicians, — a  people 
related  to  the  Hebrews, — and  used  letters  for  figures  from 
the  earliest  times.  The  mistake  by  copyists,  of  letters 
resembling  each  other,  while  of  very  different  numerical 
value,  accounts  for  many  difficulties.  It  would  be  ea/^v, 
for  instance,  to  exchange  Jl  (3)  for  T  (7),  or  9  (80)  for  2 
(20),  or  D  (40)  with  0  (60),  or  H  (5)  with  T)  (400),  or  J< 
(1)  with  2^  (1000).  The  contractions  and  cramped  writing 
of  existing  manuscripts,  indeed,  often,  make  their  correct 
deciphern^  ^nt  difficult  even  now,  and  increase  the  liability 
to  mistakes  in  copying.  But  how  great  must  have  been 
the  risk  of  error  on  such  minute  points  in  the  countless 
transcriptions  of  thousands  of  years,   especially  if   we 

*  The  Kabbinical  year  now  iii  use  among  the  Jews  gives  a 
fourth  estimate;  for  1880  is  by  it  the  year  of  the  world  5640. 

"  Eichhorn's  Einleitimg,  i.  §  90.  Winer,  Realworterbuch,  art. 
Zihlen.    Qesenma,  lleh.  Grammar,  20th  ed.  §6. 


84 


THE   AQB   OV   THE   WORLD. 


remember  that  two  small  dots  above  the  first  nine  letters 
raised  them  from  units  to  thousands  ? 

Under  these  circumstances  it  is  not  wonderful  that 
chronologists  have  produced  very  different  reckonings  iu 
every  age.  In  the  French  book,  *'L'Art  de  Verifier  lea 
Dates/'  no  fewer  than  108  opinions  are  given  respecting 
the  period  from  Adam  to  Christ,  varying  more  than  2,000 
years  in  their  extremes.  Des  VignoUes  says,  indeed,^ 
that  he  had  collected  200,  the  highest  of  which  reckoned 
the  same  period  at  6,984  years,  while  in  the  lowest 
it  was  put  at  3,483.  The  chronology  followed  in  our 
English  Bibles  is  that  of  Archbishop  Usher,^  according 
to  which  the  world  is  now  5884  years  old,  but  it  is  need- 
less to  say  that  the  worthy  Irishman  would  have  been  the 
last  to  have  claimed  inspiration  for  his  estimates.  One 
thing  in  their  favour,  however,  is  that  Ideler,  the  great 
German  scholar,  accepted  them  with  an  addition  of  only 
two  years  up  to  the  birth  of  Christ. 

Various  systems  have  at  different  times  had  great  cele- 
brity. Thus,  Panodorus,  an  Alexandrian  monk  who  lived 
about  A.D.  412,  fixed  the  year  of  Christ's  birth  as  the 
5493rd  from  the  creation  of  the  world ,^  and  this  reckon- 
ing was  long  used  in  the  Church  for  the  festivals  of  the 
ecclesiastical  year.  Two  other  calculations  are  still  in 
use  among  single  Christian  nations.  That  of  Anianus,  an 
Ei^yptian  monk,  a  contemporary  of  Panodorus,  who  sets 
Christ's  birth  in  the  year  of  the  world  5501,  is  still  em- 
ployed by  the  Abyssinians.  The  Greek  Christian  races, 
with  the  exception  of  the  Russians,  on  the  other  hand,  use 


^  In  the  preface  to  his  Chronologie  de  VHistoire  Sainte,  quoted 
by  Ideler. 

*  1580-165o.    Usher  was  Archbishop  of  Armagh. 

•  Ideler,  Handhuch  der  Chronologie,  vol.  ii.  p.  447.     Wieseler, 
art.  Acre,  Ileizog,  Real-Enci,Jd  piUUc,  vol.  i.  p.  153. 


THE   AGE   OF   THE   WORLD. 


85 


ra 


0 
1 


'J 


I 


tlie  Constantinopolitan  system,  according  to  which  the 
year  begins  on  the  1st  September,  and  Christ's  birth  is 
put  in  the  year  5509.  JuHus  Africanus  calcuhited  the 
year  5500 ;  Eusebius,  the  Venerable  Bede,  and  the  Romish 
Martyrology,  the  year  5199  ;  Scaliger  and  Calvisius  the 
year  3950,  and  Kepler  and  Petavius,  the  year  3984,  as 
that  of  the  nativity.  These  dates,  varying  and  arbitrary 
as  they  seem,  have  been,  among  others,  the  materials  of 
which  Church  historians  and  chronologists,  not  only  of 
the  earlier  ages,  but  even  since  the  Reformation  have 


constantly  made  use.^ 

To  show  at  a  glance  the  different  ideas 

3  of  the  period 

assigned  by  Genesis  as  that  of  the  creation  of  man,  by 

these  and  other  calculations,  famous  in  their  day,  and  in 

some  cases  in  wide  use  even  at 

present, 

it  may  be  in- 

teresting  to  note  the  following  table. 

.       -■     -,       -  V    ■    ■- 

From  Creation  to  1880 

Zunz  (Hebrew  reckoning). 

»        • 

5868 

Septuagint  (Perowne) 

7241  or  7291 

Kabbinical  .... 

6640 

Usher         .... 

6884 

Panodorus .        .        •        . 

7373 

*     Anianus      .... 

7381* 

Constantinopolitan             • 

7389 

Eusebius    .... 

7079 

Scaliger     .... 

6830 

Dionysius  (from  whom  we 

take  our 

Christian  era) 

7374 

Maximus    .... 

7381 

Syncellus  and  Theophanes 

7381 

Jnlius  Africanus.       .        • 

7381 

Hales.         .        .        .        • 

7291 

Jackson      .        .        •        . 

7306 

*  The  whole  question  of  these  eK*s  of  the  world  will  be  found 
treated  with  great  learning  in  Ideler,  vol.  ii.  pp.  444-470. 
«  Wieaeler :  Ideler  says,  7372. 


86 


THE   AQB   OF   THE   WOBLD. 


It  is  thus  clear  that  it  has  been  at  all  times  an  open 
question  among  the  most  orthodox  theologians,  whether 
Scripture  assigned  the  creation  of  man  to  a  nearer  or 
remoter  date.^  Of  the  calculations  above  given,  nine  fix 
it  at  over  7,000  years  ago,  and  four  at  from  5,600  to  5,890. 
There  can  be  no  ground  for  dogmatizing  where  doctors 
differ  so  strikingly,  for  he  would  be  a  bold  man  who 
would  impugn  the  soundness  of  the  worthies  who  offer 
even  the  highest  computations  quoted.  Others  might 
indeed  have  been  added  of  herdly  less  weight,  for  it  is 
not  to  be  forgotten  that  two  hundred  different  calcula- 
tions, at  least,  exist,  varying,  to  the  present  date,  from 
8863  years  to  5362. 

It  is  worthy  of  notice,  moreover,  that  even  the  separate 
parts  of  Biblical  calculations  are  differently  computed 
by  different  authorities.  Thus,  to  instance  the  case  of 
the  Septuagint  alone.  Dean  Perowne*  differs  18  and  98 
years,  respectively,  from  Bunsen,  in  his  reckoning  of  the 
interval  from  the  Creation  to  Abraham  leaving  Haran, 
while  as  to  the  numbers  through  the  rest  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, either  in  the  Hebrew  or  the  Greek,  each  investigator 
adopts  his  own  method  of  analysis,  and  draws  his  own 
conclusions.  Tlie  progress  of  Assyrian  studies  will  per- 
haps enable  future  scholars  to  solve  the  ditiiculties  which 

*  The  chronology  of  Berosas  has  been  thought  to  ascribe  a  length 
of  43,000  years  to  each  of  the  ten  Babylonian  kings,  from  the  save 
being  reckoned  at  3,600  years.  But  a  passage  in  Suidas  shows 
that  this  was  the  astronomical  sare  and  that  there  was  another 
of  only  18  months,  used  for  civil  purposes.  According  to  thisii, 
the  length  of  the  ten  reigns  is  2,221  years,  or  21  years  less  than 
the  period  given  in  the  Septuagint  as  having  elapsed  between 
Creation  and  the  Deluge.  See  Vigouroux,  La  Bible  et  les  DecoU' 
vertes  Modernes,  vol.  i.  p.  214.  See  also  Lenormant,  Lea  Originea 
de  rilistoire  (Paiis,  1880),  p.  279. 

^  Bidijnary  of  the  Bible,  art.  Chronology.  , 


, 


THB   AGE   Of  THE   WORLD. 


87 


have  Hitherto  perplexed  so  many,  by  furnishing  fixed 
periods  from  which  to  start  and  by  which  to  check  tlieir 
results ;  but  till  this  is  the  case,  Biblical  chronology  will 
be  by  no  means  a  subject  on  which  all  are  united. 
Meanwhile  it  is  well  to  remember  that  "  the  chronology 
given  on  the  margin  of  our  bibles  is  of  no  authority  and 
of  great  uncertainty."  * 

*  The  Rev.  Josiah  Miller,  M.  A.  Transactions  of  Society  of  Bib, 
Archceol.,  vol.  i v.  p.  315. 

(a)  Experiments  have  shown  that  a  seam  of  coal  one  yard  in 
thickness  must  have  required  for  its  origin  a  mass  of  vegetable 
matter  about  8|  yards  in  thickness.  To  produce  a  bed  of  coal 
10  yards  thick,  such  as  occuis  in  England,  the  peaty  mass  must 
have  attained,  before  the  vegetable  growth  ceased  and  the  super- 
incumbent layet^  of  earthy  matter  was  spread  upon  it,  a  thicknesii 
of  about  87  yards, 


I 


M 


I 


nil 


CHAPTER    VII. 


ADAM    AND   EVE. 

THE  few  verses  in  which  Scripture  speaks  of  out 
first  parents  leave  so  much  untold,  that  a  natural 
curiosity  has,  in  all  ages,  wearied  itself  by  filling  up  the 
outline  as  fancy  prompted.  The  name  Adam,  which  is 
applied  to  both  the  man  and  the  woman,  seems  to  imply 
that  they  were  of  a  reddish  colour  rather  than  white,  like 
ourselves ;  but  even  this  is  doubtful,  for  the  allusion  may 
be  simply  to  the  fact  of  their  creation  from  the  dust  of 
the  ground, — the  redness  referring  simply  to  that  of  the 
general  colour  of  soil,  as  we  often  speak  of  the  brown  or 
red  furrows  of  the  plough.* 

Adam  can  hardly  be  called  a  distinctive  name  given 
to  our  first  parent  individually.  It  is  rather  a  title  of 
honour  given  him  as  the  progenitor  of  the  race,  for  it  is 
constantly  used  in  the  Bible,  of  mankind  at  large,  as  Man. 
While,  however,  no  name  but  that  of  The  Man  has  come 
down  to  us  as  that  of  our  great  father,  the  name  of  Eve, 
borne  by  the  mother  of  us  all,  was  most  fitly  given,  mean- 
ing, as  it  does,  simply.  Life.  It  is  characteristic  of  the  ear- 
nest and  grave  view  of  things  peculiar  to  the  Hebrews,  that 
the  first  man  bears  a  name  reminding  us  all  of  our  lowli- 
ness and  mortality,  rather  than  alluding  to  our  superiority 

*  Miihlau  and  Volck.     Heh.  HandwdrterhurJi,  p.  13. 

88 


\ 


ADAM   AND   EVE. 


89 


to  other  creatures.  In  oi«i'  own  langiinpfe  the  word  man 
means  *'  the  thinking  being  ;"^  in  tlio  Greek,  anthropos 
means  "the  upward  looking  one/'  or,  according  to 
modern  philologers,  "  the  being  of  tlie  noble  coun- 
tenance;" while  the  Latin  "homo,"  long  thought  to  be 
derived  from  "  humus,"  *'  the  ground,"  is  now  held  to 
mean  the  "  speaking  one."  The  Hebrew  is  contented  to 
think  of  our  race  as  "  him  who  sprang  from  the  dust."  * 

The  speculations  and  fancies  in  which  many  have  in- 
dulged respecting  our  first  parents,  have  been  too  often 
as  fanciful  as  they  are  idle.  Thus  the  Rabbis  tell  us  that 
his  height  was  so  great  he  could  see  from  one  end  of  the 
world  to  the  other,  and  that,  when  he  lay  down,  his  head 
and  his  feet  were  so  far  apart  that  it  would  have  taken 
five  hundred  years  to  walk  from  the  one  to  the  other. 
They  add,  however,  that  when  he  sinned,  God  "laid  His 
hand  upon  him,"  ^  and  reduced  him  to  the  more  moderate 
stature  of  a  hundred  and  fifty  feet.  This,  indeed,  was  a 
signal  mercy,  for  till  then  his  heel  had  eclipsed  the  sun, 
so  that  the  creatures,  and  even  the  angels,  mistook  him 
for  God,  and  would  have  worshipped  him  had  not  he 
checked  them. 

Some,  however,  maintain  that  even  after  he  had  sinned, 


!f 
II 


'  From  Sanscrit  wwa,  "  to  thiok."  It  is  also  the  same  in 
modern  Tiiliitian. 

2  The  Piieiiician  Cosmogony  speaks  of  the  first  man,  "  Adam 
Qadmun,"  as  created  from  the  earnh.  Bo  do  Libyan  traditions.  In 
Egypt  he  was  thought  to  have  been  made  of  the  mud  of  the  Nile. 
Even  in  Peru  and  North  America  the  Indians  held  the  same 
opinion  of  onr  being  at  first  made  from  the  dust.  The  ancient 
Chal<lGan8  called  the  first  man  •'  him  whom  the  earth  produced." 
So  widely  spread  have  been  the  echoes  of  the  Bible  narrative. 
Lenormant,  Les  Origines  de  VHistoire,  pp.  39-41. 

*  Ps.  cxxxix.  5.  Pei'liaps  the^o  exuggeratiofis  had  a  metaphor- 
ical meaning.     See  Sagen  der  Ehtuer  (.Jtiurwitz),  p.  xvii. 


1   F 


oo 


ADAM   AND  EVE. 


he  was  so  gigantic  tliat,  having  to  cross  tho  ocean  affor 
bcinjif  driven  from  Paradise,  ho  waded  safely  to  hind, 
lik(<  Orion  or  Polyphemus  in  Virgil,  his  shoulders  or  even 
halt'  his  body  above  the  flood. ^ 

His  physical  beauty  is  the  subject  of  wild  inventions. 
God,  it  is  said,  wishing  to  create  him,  clothed  Himself 
in  a  perfect  human  body,  that  He  might  have  a  pattern 
from  which  to  make  hira  literally  in  His  own  image. 
Indeed,  not  only  the  Rabbis,  but  Christian  writers  have 
playod  with  this  fancy,  asserting  that  it  was  the  Word, 
the  Second  Person  in  the  Trinity,  who  thus  assumed  a 
human  form,  and  that  the  body  thus  taken  was  that  seen 
by  St.  Peter  on  Tabor  at  the  transfiguration,  and  by 
Moses  on  Mount  Sinai. 

Even  the  dust  of  which  our  first  parent  was  made  has 
engaged  the  speculations  of  many.  It  was  gathered,  say 
the  Rabbis,  from  every  part  of  the  world  :  that  of  the 
body  from  Babel,  that  for  the  head  from  Palestine,  and 
that  for  the  limbs  from  all  other  countries.^  Many 
Rabbis  have  even  fancied  that  Adam  and  Eve  were 
originally  created  with  one  body  between  them,  the  two 
heads  turned  back  to  back,  Eve  being  afterwards  separ- 
ated, and  presented  to  Adam  as  his  wife.* 

As  to  knowledge,  our  first  parent  has  been  supposed 

>  Virgil,  2En.,  x.  763;  iii.  655. 

*  Bayle's  Didionnaire,  art.  Adam. 

•  Ibid.  Lenorraant  quotes  a  number  of  ancient  traditions 
which  illustrate  in  various  fanciful  ways  the  Bible  statement  of 
the  derivation  of  man  and  woman  from  one  original.  He  liimself 
thinks  that  the  Hebrew  text  means  that  Eve  was  formed  at 
Adam's  side,  not  from  it.  It  is  at  least  striking  that.  Jewish 
and,  one  may  say,  universal  tradition  favours  this  idea.  Lea 
Origines  de  VHistoire,  pp.  51-55.  Brentano's  Bible,  i.  16.  Baring 
Gould's  curious  book,  Legends  of  Old  Teat.  Characters,  has  many 
additional  fancies  in  the  same  strain. 


;lf 


ADAM   AND  IVfl. 


91 


by  such  dreamers  to  have  excelled  nil  men  since.  It  was 
a  favourite  mode  of  stating  this,  among  Clnistian  vvritcra 
before  the  Kuformation,  to  say,  that  the  givat  master 
Aristotle  was  almost  as  learned  as  Adam.  But  the 
Kabbis  have  gone  further;  for,  not  content  with  com- 
paring him  with  Moses  and  Solomon,  to  whom  they  as- 
cribed more  than  human  attainments,  they  maintain  that 
he  knew  more  than  tlie  angels.  These  glorious  beings, 
they  tell  us,  having  shown  a  disposition  to  look  down  on 
the  new  human  creature  when  he  was  Hrst  made,  God  told 
them  that  he  was  of  higher  intelligence  than  they,  'i'o 
prove  this,  having  summoned  all  the  lower  animals,  He 
asked  the  angels  to  give  them  appropriate  names,  a  task 
they  owned  to  be  beyond  their  powers.  Adam,  however, 
on  being  invited  to  undertake  it,  at  once  did  so,  and  even 
gave  to  God  the  name  Jehovah.  This  vast  knowledge 
and  intellect  is  cleverly  made  by  the  later  liabbis 
the  explanation  of  the  saying  of  their  predecessors,  that 
Adam's  stature  was  so  enormous.  It  was  meant,  they 
say,  of  his  intellectual  greatness. 

This  vast  mental  equipment  was  derived,  we  are  told, 
from  a  be  jk  sent  down  from  heaven,  containing  six  hun- 
dred and  seventy  writings,  which  put  the  one  thousand 
five  hundred  keys  of  knowledge,  kept  from  the  angels, 
into  Adam's  hands.  But  when  he  sinned,  this  book  flew 
up  to  heaven,  and  poor  Adam,  beating  his  brow  and 
weeping  sore,  rushed  into. the  river  Gihon  up  to  his  neck, 
coming  out  a  rusty  red ! 

His  stay  in  Paradise  is  spoken  of  as  only  a  single  day. 
In  the  first  hour,  the  dust  of  which  he  was  formed  was 
brought  together;  in  the  second,  it  was  made  into  a 
shapeless  mass ;  in  the  third,  his  limbs  were  stretched 
out ;  in  the  fourth,  his  soul  was  put  in  him ;  in  the  fifth 
he  stood  on  his  feet ;  in  the  sixth,  he  gave  all  things  and 


•  I 


u 


\  i 


92 


ADAM    AND   £V£. 


creatures  their  names  ;  in  the  seventh,  Eve  was  created  ; 
in  the  eighth,  Cain  and  a  sister  were  born ;  in  the  ninth, 
Adam  was  told  not  to  eat  the  forbidden  fruit ;  in  the 
tenth,  he  sinned ;  in  the  eleventh,  he  was  pardoned ;  and 
in  the  twelfth,  he  was  driven  out  of  Paradise.^ 

St.  Jerome  supposed  that  our  first  parent  was  buried 
at  Hebron ;  but  this  did  not  please  the  fancy  of  the  day, 
which  clung  to  the  earlier  idea  that  he  was  laid  to  rest 
on  Mount  Calvary.  This  was,  indeed,  the  view  of  most 
of  the  Fathers.  "  Here,"  says  Tertullian,  '*  we  maintain 
the  first  man  was  buried;  here  Christ  suffered;  here  He 
moistenea  the  earth  with  His  holv  blood ;  that  the  dust 
of  Adam,  mingled  with  the  blood  of  Christy  might  be 
washed  pure  by  the  virtues  of  the  dropping  stream."  * 

It  was  early  urged,  as  a  difficulty  in  receiving  this 
beautiful  legend,  that  the  waters  of  the  Flood  must  have 
obliterated  all  traces  of  our  great  forefather's  grave. 
But  invention  was  fertile.  Already  in  the  fourth  century 
the  teacher  of  St.  Ephrem  explained  to  that  saint  at 
Edessa,  that  at  the  time  of  the  Deluge  Noah  lived  in 
Syria ;  that  he  planted  in  the  plains  of  Sodom  the  cedars 
of  which  the  ark  was  to  be  built ;  that  he  carried  with 
him  in  the  ark  the  bones  of  Adam ;  and  that  when  the 
flood  subsided  he  divined  them  among  his  three  sons, 
giving  the  skull  to  Shem,  whose  descendants,  having  re- 
ceived Judea  as  their  inheritance,  buried  the  sacred  relic 
on  Calvary,  where  the  tomb  had  formerly  been.* 

Some  of  the  most  eminent  of  the  Fathers  held  that 
A.dam  was  one  of  the  first  raised  from  the  dead  with  our 
Lord ;  and  the  Kabbis  have  a  touching  legend  that  he 
would  have  died  of  sorrow  after  his  sin  had  not  God 
Bent  an  angel  to  console  him. 

•  Eisenmenger's  Judenthum  Entdecldes,  vol.  i.  p.  635. 

•  Carm.  co7it.  Marcion.,  c.  4.  • 

•  Cornelius  a  La'pide^  In  Qeneain^  c.  ii.  v.  9. 


ADAM   AND   EVE. 


OS 


3d; 

ith, 

[the 

md 

'ied 

lay, 
'est 
lost 
:ain 
He 
ust 
be 


Cornelius  a  Lapide  adds  the  strange  invention,  that 
Seth,  at  the  comjaand  of  an  angel,  put  a  seed  of  the  for- 
bidden tree  into  the  mouth  of  Adara  at  his  burial,  and 
that  a  tree  grew  from  it  which  afterwards  furnished  the 
wood  of  our  Saviour's  cross ;  so  that  the  very  tree  which 
had  led  to  the  Fall  became  the  instrument  of  our  re- 
demption. The  Jews,  however,  have  a  legend  from 
which  this  is  evidently  borrowed ;  that  the  angels  bore 
to  Adam,  in  the  desert,  a  branch  of  the  tree  of  life 
which  Seth  forthwith  planted.  This  grew  to  a  lordly 
size,  and  in  after  ages  supplied  the  rod  of  Moses,  the 
branch  which  sweetened  the  bitter  waters  of  Marah,  and 
the  pole  on  which  the  brazen  serpent  was  raised. 

The  question  must  often  rise,  what  was  the  religious 
belief  of  our  first  parents  ?  and  on  this  subject  Jewish 
writers,  whose  study  of  the  ancient  Scriptures  has  been 
more  intense  than  that  of  any  others,  are,  perhaps,  best 
entitled  to  speak.  According  to  Dr.  Beer,  a  learned 
German  Rabbi,  the  first  ten  chapters  of  Genesis,  when 
read  without  prejudice  and  with  eyes  open  to  the  truth, 
supply  the  answer,  which  is  summed  up  in  the  following 
particulars  : — 

Adam,  he  thinks,  must  have  held  :  1.  That  God  alone 
created  the  universe ;  that  He  existed,  of  necessity,  before 
creation,  and  must  exist  for  ever  without  change,  which 
would  imply  that  He  is  Immaterial  and  Eternal. 

2.  That  harmony  prevails  throughout  creation,  each 
part  fitting  like  the  wheels  of  a  watch  into  the  whole 
design,  and  working  with  every  other,  to  bring  about 
the  one  great  end,  of  universal  perfection,  happiness,  and 
peace.  Heuce,  Adam  must  have  realized  that  the  great 
Master  of  the  Whole  was  One,  Only,  and  Allwise. 

3.  That  this  Great  Being  made  the  world  from 
nothing;    that   the   existence   of  all   creatures  depends 


I!    i 

.,1    I 

:    I 


I  >i 


y 


94 


ADAM  AND   ET8. 


absolutely  on  His  will ;  that  He  interrupts  the  conrse  of 
nature,  that  is,  works  miracles,  when  He  thinks  fit,  and 
that  He  is,  therefore,  Supreme  and  Almighty. 

4.  That  all  that  has  been  or  is  owes  its  f  est  source  to 
Him,  and  has  been  and  is  upheld  directly  by  Him — that 
is.  He  is  Omnipresent. 

6.  That  He  created  man,  as  to  his  soul,  in  His  own 
image  :  that  is,  spiritual,  free,  and  immortal.  Hence  He 
must  love  virtue  and  hate  vice,  or  in  other  words.  He 
must  be  a  Holy  God. 

6.  That  the  lot  of  man  is  often  felt  to  correspond  with 
his  conduct,  thus  showing  the  Righteousness  of  God. 
But,  the  fact  that  this  is  not  always  realized  here,  is 
an  absolute  proof  that  our  conduct  and  our  lot  will  be 
brought,  hereafter,  to  correspond.     Hence  Adam  must 

_    have  believed  in  a  Future  State. 

7.  That  God  watches,  with  an  all-embracing  Provi- 
dence, over  all  things ;  especially  over  man  at  large,  and 
each  individual  in  particular,  and  thus  must  be  All  Good. 

8.  That  man  is  weak,  and  wrought  upon  by  impulses 
from  within  and  temptations  from  without.  That  when 
he  sins  God  pardons  him,  on  his  seeing  and  repenting 
of  his  faults.  Thus  Adam  must  have  believed  in  the 
Tender  Pity  and  Mercy  of  the  Heavenly  Father.. 

9.  That  God  demands,  not  on  His  own  account,  for  He 
is  high  above  all  wants,  but  for  the  good  of  man  him- 
self, our  homage  and  obedience  to  His  Sovereign  will, 
not  only  in  the  most  secret  thoughts,  but  also  outwardly ; 
and  that  He  has  hence  given  us  Commands  and  Prohibi- 
tions—some of  abiding  force,  others  for  particular  cir- 
cumstance and  times.''  ^ 

The  Christian  naturally  adds  to  this  simple  creed  a 

*  Beer:  GescMchtef  Lehren,  und  Meinungen  der  Juden  (1820), 
vol.  i.  pp.  12  ff.  —    -    .  . 


t 

t 


ADAM  AND  EYE. 


95 


trust  in  the  mysterions  pi'omise  of  a  future  Deliverer — 
the  Seed  of  the  Womau,  who  should  bruise  the  head  of 
the  serpent,  and  undo  the  ruin  of  the  Fall.  It  may  have 
been  that  the  wondrous  grace  thus  foreshadowed  was 
perceived  only  very  imperfectly ;  but  on  the  other  ha.  u, 
the  same  heavenly  pity  that  gave  the  consolation  per- 
haps revealed  its  Divine  completeness.  It  is  impossible, 
indeed,  to  conjecture  how  much  may  have  been  disclosed 
to  one  who  stood  in  such  unique  relations  to  his  Maker. 

It  might  have  been  expected  that  we  should  fiud  some 
account  of  the  creation  of  Man  in  the  Assyrian  legends, 
but  unfortunately  those  which  seem  to  refer  to  it  are 
sadly  mutilated.  Mr.  George  Smith  believed  that  he 
could  recognise  in  them  a  discourse  of  God  to  the  first 
man  and  the  first  woman  on  their  duties,  and  exhortations 
to  innocence  and  purity,  but  the  sense  is  difficult  to  make 
sure.  The  name  of  the  man,  strange  to  say,  is  Admu,  or 
Adamu,  the  Assyrian  form  of  the  Hebrew  Adam  ;  ^  which 
Sir  Henry  Rawlinson  regards  as  designating  the  "  brown 
race  '^  in  opposition  to  Sarku  "  the  clear  or  fair.''  In  the 
Egyptian  records  the  god  Ohnumis  makes  man  of  clay, 
on  a  potter's  wheel.*^  Other  fancies,  however,  made  the 
four  races  of  men,  exclusive  of  the  negro,  spring  from  the 
tears  of  Horus,  and  the  work  of  the  goddess  Sekhet, — 
a  personification  of  the  eye  of  Horus,  or  the  sun.  But 
still  other  inventions  ascribe  man  as  sprung  from  the 
eye,  and  the  gods  from  the  mouth  of  that  deity .^ 

The  story  of  our  First  Parents  has  furnished  a  theme 
for  poets  from  the  earliest  ages.  Victor,  a  rhetorician  of 
Marseilles,  so  long  ago  as  the  middle  of  the  fifth  century, 

*  Delitzsuh,  Ghald.  Gen.^  p.  304.    Lenormant,  Origines,  p.  47. 

*  Chabas  :  Etudes,  p.  87. 

■  Trans.  8oc.  Bib,  Arch.  vol.  W.  p.  45.    Vigouroux :  La  Bible  ei 
Lea  Decouvertes  Modernes,  vol.  i.  p.  188. 


t 


.  i 


til 


li 


m 


ADAM   AND    EYE. 


composed  a  metrical  paraphrase  on  Genesis,  one  passage 
of  which,  relating  to  the  Fall,  is  curious.  Adam  and  Eve, 
having  sinned,  and  having  been  driven  from  Paradise, 
are  humbly  praying,  when,  suddenly,  the  hated  serpent 
is  seen  gliding  past.  The  ruined  pair  start  at  the  sight, 
indignant  at  the  presence  of  the  cause  of  all  their  misery. 
Evo  is  the  first  to  speak.  Adam,  if  the  sight  of  the 
author  of  their  sorrows  moves  him,  should,  she  thinks, 
snatch  one  of  the  stones,  which  lie  thick  around,  and  de- 
stroy the  source  of  their  own  ruin.  Nor  is  he  unwilling. 
He  would  fain  let  that  which  had  brought  death  on  them 
know  how  sad  a  thing  it  is  to  die,  and  follows  it  with  a 
shower  of  stones ;  Eve,  also,  hurling  as  many  as  she  can, 
while  it  glides  off.  But  one  stone,  sharp  edged,  strikes 
on  a  flinty  rock  and  a  spark  leaps  forth,  and  catches  in 
the  dry  leaves  around.  Presently  it  leaps  from  leaves  to 
shrubs,  and,  ere  long,  the  whole  wood  around  is  in  flames. 

At  such  a  catastrophe  our  first  parents  flee  terrified, 
but,  soon,  overawed  by  the  terrible  spectacle,  they  stop  to 
gaze  on  a  scene  so  strange  to  them.  Wondering,  they 
see  the  thick  foliage  stript  from  the  now  bare  slopes,  and 
the  grove  heaped  with  embers.  The  ^un  is  obscured  by 
smoke,  but  the  whole  landscape  is  lighted  up  by  the  new 
brightness.  Great  globes  of  fire  are  carried  off  from  the 
growing  trees  by  the  wind,  and  the  flames  eat  deep  to 
the  roots.  There,  the  heat  reaches  the  rich  veins,  which 
presently  melt  and  pour  out  streams  of  metal.  Gold 
sparkles  and  glows  in  its  yellow  course ;  silver  flows  forth 
shining  like  milk,  and  copper  winds  along,  limpid  as 
water.^ 

After  a  time  the  wild  storm  of  fire  passes  and  things 
resume  their  wonted  course,  but  the  chance  spark  has 

•  C.  M.  Victoris, Super  Gemain  Comment.,  given  by  Fabricius  in 
his  Corpus  Poetarum  Ecclesiasticorum.    (1572.     Basileas.) 


ADAM    AND   EY&. 


97 


revealed  to  man  the  two  great  discoveries  of  fire  and  of 
the  metals. 

But  a  greater  poet  than  Victor  has  given  us,  in  our  own 
language,  though  before  it  had  become  our  modern  Eng- 
lish, an  imaginative  picture  of  the  first  days  of  mankind. 
Caedmon,  an  Anglo-Saxon,  or  rather  Englishman,  born 
towards  the  close  of  the  seventh  century,  a  tenant  on  the 
lands  of  the  abbey  of  Whitby,  and  a  convert  to  Chris- 
tianity, in  his  metrical  pu.raphrase  of  parts  of  Holy  Scrip- 
ture, has  left  us  the  legacy  of  a  true  poet.  He  sings  of 
the  Creation,  the  War  in  Heaven,  the  fall  of  Satan,  and 
of  his  counsellings  in  Hell,  as  the  strong  Angel  of  Pre- 
sumption or  Pride. 

The  poem  is  so  curious  and  in  many  respects  so  noble, 
that  a  brief  glance  at  the  leading  ideas  of  the  part  of  it  re- 
ferring to  our  First  Parents,  may  be  of  interest.  It  opens 
with  an  ascription  of  praise  to  the  Almighty,  the  glorious 
Lord  of  Hosts.  In  the  beginning  He  ruled  the  heavens. 
The  angels,  when  created,  surrounded  Him,  bright  and 
full  of  bliss  as  their  Great  Original,  because  sinless.  But 
after  a  time  their  guardian  "  for  pride,  sank  into  error," 
and  ''  turned  away  from  the  love  of  God."  He  and  those 
who  followed  him  thought  they  could  divide  the  heavens 
against  God.  Satan  proposed  to  seize  a  home  in  the 
north  and  make  it  the  lofty  seat  of  a  new  empire  under 
himself.  But  God  was  wroth  at  his  presumption,  and 
having  prepared  a  place  of  punishment  for  these  false 
ones,  took  away  their  courage  and  drove  them  out  of 
heaven. 

Their  vaunt  was  quelled ;  their  threat  shattered; 
Their  grandeur  bowed ;  their  beauty  corrupted, 
For  that  they  had  devised  'gainst  God  to  war. 

Peace  now,  once  more,  reigned  in  heaven,  but  the  home 
of  the  rebel  angels  was  vacant,  and  God  pondered  how 
voi^  I.  H 


tc 


98 


ADAM  AND  EYE. 


He  might  create  a  better  race.     The  earth  as  yet  lay 
waste. 

There  had  not  here,  as  yet,  save  cavern  shade, 
Aught  been.    The  wide  abyss  stood,  deep  and  dark. 

The  earth  lay  like 

A  dark  cloud,  lowering  in  eternal  night. 
Swart  under  heaven,  both  dark  and  waste. 
The  ocean,  shrouded  with  eternal  night, 
Stretched  far  and  wide. 

Then  went  forth  the  guardian  Spirit  of  Heaven,  bright 
with  the  upper  glory,  and  passed  over  the  deep  with 
utmost  speed,  and  the  Creator  of  angels  bade  the  *'holy 
light "  come  forth  over  its  spacious  bosom,  and  was  pre- 
sently obeyed.  The  firmament,  "  the  roof  of  nations/' 
He  next  "  hove  up  from  the  earth  by  His  own  word.'' 

Then  came  o*er  earth,  swift  journeying, 
The  third  great  morn. 

Here,  unfortunately,  there  is  a  break,  after  which  an 
account  of  the  creation  of  woman  is  given,  that  of  man 
being  apparently  lost. 

Adam  was  fast  at  rest  and  softly  slept. 

He  knew  not  pain  and  had  no  suffering, 

Nor  from  his  wounds  flowed  any  blood. 

But  from  his  side  the  Lord  of  angels 

Drew  forth  a  jointed  bone  :  he,  yet,  unwounded; 

And  of  it  formed  a  goodly  woman. 

Paradise,  the  home  of  the  new  pair,  is  thus  described  :— 

It  stood  good  and  spiritual,  filled  with  gifts. 

Fair  washed  the  general  laud  both  running  water 

And  welling  brooks.    No  clouds,  as  yet. 

Over  the  ample  ground  bore  rains. 

Lowering  with  winds. 

Yet  with  all  fruits  earth  stood  adorned. 


ADAM   AND  BYE. 


99 


The  poet  now  returns  to  the  rebellion  of  Satan,  and 
passes  on  to  his  plot  against  man.  Glorious  as  "  the  light 
of  stars/'  "  he  rebelled — sought  speech  of  hate  and  words 
of  pride,  nor  would  serve  God."  Summoning  his  hosts, 
he  thus  addressed  them  : — 

«  Wherefore  shall  I  toil  P 
No  need  have  I  of  master.    I  can  work 
With  my  own  hands  great  marvels,  and  have  power 
To  build  a  throno  more  worthy  of  a  god, 
Higher  in  heaven.    Why  shall  I,  for  His  smile, 
Serve  Him  and  bow  me  thus  in  vassalage  P 
I  may  be  God  as  He. 

Stand  by  me,  strong  supporters,  firm  in  strife. 
Hard-mooded  heroes,  famous  warriors, 
Have  chosen  me  for  Chief:  one  may  take  thought 
With  such,  for  counsel,  and,  with  such,  secure 
Large  following.     My  friends  in  earnest  they, 
Faithful  in  all  the  shaping  of  their  minds  ; 
I  am  their  master,  and  may  rule  this  realm. 

Then  comes  the  fall  from  heaven. 

The  fiend,  with  all  his  host,  fell,  then, 

Long  as  three  days  and  nights,  from  heaven  to  hell. 

There  each  of  all  the  fiends,  each  night — 
A  night  immeasurably  long — have  a  renewal 
Of  their  fierce  penal  fires :  then,  before  dawn. 
The  Eastern  wind  brings  frost,  and  bitter  cold. 

With  a  striking  similarity  of  treatment  to  that  of 
Milton,  a  thousand  years  later,  Satan  is  now  introduced, 
addressing  his  followers  in  hell. 

Then  spake  the  haughty  king,  of  angels 
Erst  the  brightest.     He  had  shone  white  in  heaven 
Till  his  soul  urged,  and,  most  of  all,  his  pride. 
That  to  the  word  of  God,  tbe  Lord  of  Hosts, 
He  should  not  bend.    About  his  heart,  his  soul 


100 


▲DAM  AND   EVB. 


Tnmultuously  heaved,  hot  pains  of  wrath 

Flamed  round  him. 

Then  spake  he  :  "  This  narrow  place  is  most  unlike 

That  other  we  once  knew,  high  in  the  heavens, 

Which  my  Lord  gave  me,  though,  therein  no  more 

For  the  Almighty  we  hold  royalties. 

Yet  right  He  hath  not  done  in  striking  ub 

Down  to  the  fiery  bottom  of  hot  hell— 

And  having  stripped  us  of  heaven's  kingdom. 

To  decree  that  He  will  set  in  it  the  race  of  man. 

Worst  of  my  sorrows  this,  that  earth-born  Adam 

My  strong  seat  shall  possess,  and  reign  in  joy. 

While  we  endure  this  torment. 

Oh !  had  I  but  the  freedom  of  my  hands 

Or  could  I  be  without  for  but  one  season — 

One  winter's  space — with  this  host,  I 

But  iron  binds  me  round :  this  coil  of  chains 
Lies  heavy  on  me.    I,  now,  rule  no  more — 
Close  bonds  of  hell  hold  me  their  prisoner. 


God  hath  now  devised  a  world  and  has  made  man 
;        In  His  own  likeness,  that  by  him 

He  may  repeople  heaven  with  holy  spirits,  " 

To  taKe  our  place. 

Therefore  we  must  strive  zealously 

That  we  on  Adam,  if  we  ever  may. 

And  on  his  offspring,  all  our  wrongs  repair. 

If  we  can  but  corrupt  them,  God  will  cast  them  down 

To  hell,  and  they  will  be  our  vassals  here. 

Think,  all  of  you,  how  best  you  may  deceive  them* 

He  who  shall  that  effect,  for  him 

Shall  recompense  eternal  be  the  meed, 

So  far  as  in  this  fire,  henceforth. 

Advantages  may  rise. 

Him  will  I  let  sit  by  myself.  . 

He  who  is  known  to  us  as  Satan  forthwith  volunteers, 
and  is  girt  in  full  panoply  for  the  mission,  by  the  great 
chief  himself. 


I 


I 


ADAM  AND  EYE.  101 

Wheeling  up  from  thenco. 
He  part-ed  through  the  doors  of  hell. 
Lion-like  in  air, — in  hostile  mood 
Dashing  the  fire  aside  with  a  fiend's  power. 

Reaching  Eden,  ''he  many  speeches  knew  of  grateful 
words.''  Making  for  the  two  trees  of  life  and  death — the 
former  fair  and  beautiful:  the  latter  "utterly  black, 
dim,  and  dark/'  ho  "  cast  him  into  a  worm's  body,  and 
twining  about  the  tree  of  death,  took  of  its  fruits." 
Bearing  these,  he  forthwith  went  in  search  of  Eve, 
and  addressed  her  as  a  special  messenger  from  God, 

"  Tell  Adam,"  said  he,  "  God  has  sent  me  as  His  vassalt 

To  tell  him  he  should  eat  this  fruit, 

To  increase  his  understanding,  power,  and  strength ; 

To  make  his  body  shine  like  that  of  angels,  and 

His  form  more  beauteous.    He  will  need  no  treasure  else 

In  the  whole  world." 

Adam,  however,  repels  the  temptation.  God  has 
Himself  spoken.  He  does  not  know  this  being.  He 
is  not  like  an  angel,  and  has  given  no  proof  that  God 
has  really  sent  him.  For  himself,  he  trusts  in  God, 
who  needs  to  send  no  vassal.  Disappointed  in  Adam, 
the  emissary  turns  again  to  Eve,  and  warns  her  that 
God  will  resent  this  refusal  to  obey  His  order,  but  if 
she  eat,  she  will  grow  wise,  and  learn  how  to  meet  the 
emergency  and  ward  off  the  punishment.  Her  eyes  will 
bo  made  so  clear  that  they  will  see  even  to  the  Throne 
of  God,  and  she  will  be  able  to  win  over  Adam  from 
his  fatal  disobedience  to  the  Divine  message,  especially 
if  both  she  and  he — the  Tempter — press  him.  If  she 
do  this,  he  will  hide  from  God  the  slanders  Adam  has 
spoken  of  Him — that  "he  was  not  God's  angel,"  that 
ho  was  "untruthful,"  and  the  like. 

At  last,  "her  weaker  mind  began  to  yield,"  in  spite 


102 


ADAM   AND   EVB. 


of  tho  words  of  God,  and  she  takes  the  fruit  from  the 
Tempter,  who  now  sends  her  to  Adam.  If  she  get  him 
to  eat  it,  she  will  save  him  from  the  punishment  of  his 
having  refused  to  listen  to  God's  messenger.  She  tastes 
some  before  her  husband ;  tells  him  how  sweet  it  is— 
how  mild — and  how  her  eyes  are  opened  so  strangely 
that  she  sees  "  from  hence  to  where  God  sits,  with  bliss 
encircled," 

"I  see  His  angola  compass  Him  with  feathery  wings, 
And  liear  the  gladne38  of  the  firmament." 

All  day  she  urges  Adam,  Satan  following  to  excite  and 
urge  him,  till  at  last  "  even  in  the  man  the  mind  be- 
gan to  turn."  Beguiled  by  so  much  temptation,  he 
comes  to  think  the  messenger  may  be  really  sent  of  God, 
and  so 

He  from  his  wife  took  hell  and  death.— 
Then  laughed  the  bitter-purposed  messenger. 
He  had  won  honour  in  hell :  God's  goodness  counter-worked ; 
Filled  hell  with  slaves. 

And  now  "he  turns  him  downwards'*  to  the  broad 
flames — the  roofs  of  hell — where  lay  his  master,  bv  und 
in  fetters* 

The  light  that  had  charmed  Eve  fades  away  as  the 
Tempter  leaves.  Both  she  and  Adam  feel  that  they  have 
sinned.  She,  penitent-minded,  "wept,''  and  "some- 
times to  prayer  they  fell  together." 

In  hell  there  is  great  rejoicing.  Satan  need  no  longer 
bear  sorrow  in  his  breast,  though  he  lies  bound.  The 
children  of  men  must  needs  lose  heaven,  and  must  revert 
to  him,  here,  in  the  flames,  and  not  to  God.  "  All  our 
evils  are  avenged." 

Meanwhile,  Adam  and  Eve  "spake  many  words  of 
care  together,"     "Eve  had  brought  about  their    ruin. 


ADAM  AND   EVB. 


103 


Did  she  not  hear  the  swart  holl  raging.  The  realm  of 
heaven  was  most  unlike  that  flame.  Well  may  tlioy 
Borrow  for  his  journey." 

"  Huiij^er  and  thirst  now^  tear  mo— beat  and  cold, 
How  shall  I  boar  thorn P     See,  I  stand  hero,  bare, 
Wich  garment  unprotected." 

It  almost  "  rues  him  "  that  God  had  created  Eve.  Her 
answer  is  meekness  itself. 

"  Thou  mayest  reproach  me  with  thy  words, 
Adam,  my  loved  ono,  but  thou  canst  not  rue 
Worse  in  thy  mind  than  I  do  in  my  heart." 

Adam's  one  thought  is  now  to  know  the  will  of  the  AU- 
Powerful  One,  and  what  penalty  would  bo  imposed. 
Were  he  told  to  wade  in  tlio  sea,  he  would  do  it. 

"  It  were  not  so  fearfully  deep,  nor  yet 

Its  stream  so  fearfully  groat,  but  I  would  go 

To  the  abyss,  God's  will  to  execute." 

He  was  willing  to  undergo  any  atonement,  now  he 
had  forfeited  the  favour  of  his  Lord.  "  But  we,  thus 
bare,  must  now  not  be  together."  They  both  depart, 
and  "  sorrowing  went,  into  the  greenwood,"  sitting 
apart,  to  await  the  mandates  of  heaven's  King.  Then 
their  bodies  they  bedecked  with  leaves,  and  now  join  in 
prayer.  "  Every  morn "  they  besought  the  Lord,  not 
to  forget  them,  and  that  He  would  show  them  how  they 
should  henceforth  live. 

Then  came,  walking,  the  Lord  Almighty, 
After  midday,  in  Paradise. 

Adam  and  Eve,  "  sad-minded,"  under  the  tree-shade, 
"of  happiness  bereft,"  retire,  and  hide  themselves  in  a 
cavern,  but  the  voice  of  God  calls  them.  Adam  owns 
his  guilt.     A  criminal,  his  sin  is  painful  to  him,  and  he 


•<?.; 


I 


1(U 


ADAM    AND    EVI. 


daro  not  como  before  the  Lord — "  he  is  all  naked."  Tho 
words  of  Scripture  are  then  paraphrased,  and  in  the  end 
Adam  is  told, 

"Tliou  shalb  another  country  seek— a  dwolling  pluco 

LoaH  joyous  far — naked  and  poor— of  Edon's  bliss  berefk 

To  thee  a  parting  is  decreed  of  body  and  soul. 

Thou  shalt  bottr  a  sweaty  countemmco 

While  hero  thou  livest,  till,  at  last, 

With  thee,  at  heart,  shall  grapple  fell  disoaBe.** 

But  while  they  were  driven  from  Paradise 

Yet  continued  still  tho  roof  of  holy  stars, 
And  all  earth's  riches  God  them  amply  gave. 

This  is  a  brief  abstract  of  tho  first  section  of  a  poem 
remarkable  not  only  for  its  force  of  invention,  but  as 
among  the  earliest  creations  of  English  poetry. 

Many  poets,  besides,  have  in  different  ages,  made  our 
First  Parents  their  theme,  but  there  are  few  passages 
in  any  which  equal  in  beauty  of  expression  or  of  fancy 
that  in  which  James  Montgomery,  in  his  "  World  Before 
the  Flood,"  imagines  their  last  moments. 

The  Rabbis  have  given  Adam  a  place  in  heaven,  at  its 
gate,  among  the  penitent,  but  it  was  left  to  a  Christian 
poet  to  throw  over  his  memory  the  soft  charm  of  such 
an  incident  as  is  sketched  in  the  lines  that  follow.  The 
night  is  so  wild  and  stormy  that  to  Enoch,  who  speaks, 
it  seemed  as  if  "  the  world  itself  would  perish  with  our 
Sire."  The  Patriarch  tells  how,  in  his  last  moments, 
Adam 

Closed  his  eyelids  with  a  tranquil  smile. 
And  seemed  to  rest  in  silent  prayer  awhile : 
Around  his  couch  with  filial  awo  we  kneeled. 
When  suddenly  a  light  from  heaven  revealed 
A  Spirit, that  stood  within  r,he  unopened  door;— 
Tho  sword  of  God  in  His  right  hand  He  bore; 


.  / 


p 


▲DAM   AND   EVE.  105 

His  coantonanro  was  lightininpr,  and  Tlia  voHt 
Lik't  Huow  at  HiiniiHO  on  tho  moniitiiin'H  oro^tt; 
y^i)  HO  boiiimily  beautiful  W\h  (brm, 
IIi>  prciscnco  wtillcd  tlio  fury  of  tluj  Htorm ; 
At  ()ii(!u  tho  wiiula  roiiro,  tho  wiitocs  ocuho; 
Hi8  look  was  love,  His  uulutation,  Peuco ! 

Our  Mother  first  beheld  Him,  Boro  amnzod, 

But  terror  grew  to  transport  as  she  giized  : 

— 'Tis  lie,  tho  Prince  of  Seniphiin,  who  drove 

Our  banished  feet  from  Eden's  happy  grove; 

"  Adam,  my  life,  my  spouse,  awake  !  "  she  cried, 

"  Roturn  to  Paradise,  behold  thy  Guidt%  — 

Oh,  let  me  follow  in  this  dear  cmbracio  I  "— 

She  sank,  and  on  his  bosom  hid  her  face. 

Adam  looke«i  up  :  liis  visai^o  changed  its  hue, 

Transformed  into  an  angel's  at  tho  view  ; 

*'  I  come,''  he  cried,  '*  wii.h  faith's  full  triumph  fired," 

And  in  a  sigh  of  ecstasy  expired.' 

To  make  the  conceptioa  perfect  it  needed  only  the 
additional  touch,  which  is  added;  that  Eve  dies  on  hop 
husband's  breast,  and  the  two  thus  enter  the  heavenly 
Paradise  together. 

*  James  Montgomery's  World  Before  the  Flood,  Cant.  4. 


li 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


THE    STORY   OP  EDEN. 


NO  subject  has  been  more  earnestly  or  more  largely 
discussed  than  the  locality  intended  by  Moses  in 
his  account  of  the  residence  of  our  first  parents.  Eden— 
"  the  delightsome  place  " — has  been  sought  not  only  in 
every  part  of  the  world,  but  even  outside  it,  for  from  the 
second  to  the  tenth  century,  not  a  few  of  the  Fathers, 
and  after  them  others,  held  that  it  was  the  same  as  the 
Paradise  of  which  the  New  Testament  speaks,  and  lay  in 
secret  remoteness,  half  uu  the  earth  and  half  in  heaven. 

These  fond  dreamers  could  not  think  of  any  spot  uf  the 
known  earth,  now  so  corrupt,  as  fit  for  the  abode  of  primal 
innocence,  and  being  fettered  by  no  geographical  diffi- 
culties, sought  it  in  the  mysterious  spaces  of  the  great 
Western  Ocean.  Far  in  the  depths  of  that  vast  unknown 
sea,  it  was  fancied,  lay  a  country  in  which  man  had  dwelt 
at  first,  but  which  he  had  left,  for  the  lands  on  this  side  of 
the  great  waters,  after  the  Flood.  In  that  happy  region 
rose  a  mountain,  in  three  giant  steps,  high  into  the  hea- 
vens ;  so  high,  indeed,  that  the  waters  of  the  Flood,  at  their 
full,  washed  only  its  base,  when  all  other  mountains  were 
sunk  beneath  them.  All  kinds  of  wondrous  plants,  metals, 
and  precious  stones  combined  to  enrich  it,  but  its  greatest 
glory  was  in  its  river,  the  waters  of  which  lost  their 

106 


\ 


THE   STORY   OF   EDEN. 


107 


heavenly  taste  only  when  they  had  reached  tha  surface  of 
our  earth.  A  single  stream  flowed  from  under  the  throne 
of  God  into  its  gardens, — the  choicest  of  which  lay  on  the 
highest  part  of  the  mountain,  towards  the  east, — and  there 
divided  itself  into  four,  which,  after  watei'ing  the  whole 
mountain,  disappeared  into  the  ground  and  flowed  beneath 
hell,  the  ocean,  and  the  earth,  to  reappear  as  the  Euphrates 
and  Tigris  in  Armenia,  and  as  the  Nile  in  Ethiopia. 
Others  fancied  that  the  three  great  river  ,  thus  welling 
up  from  the  subterranean  waters  of  Paradise  were  the 
Euphrates,  the  Indus,  and  the  European  Danube.  The 
Indus,  however,  was  believed  to  be  only  the  Nile,  for  it 
was  supposed  that  it  flowed  round  the  Persian  Gulf,  and 
northwards  through  Ethiopia  as  the  great  Egyptian  river,  ^ 
Some,  for  the  Danube  substituted  the  Ganges,  and  others, 
in  the  end,  came  to  think  that,  after  all,  Eden  must  be  in 
the  East,  but  that  it  lay  there  shut  in  behind  terrible 
mountains  which  no  mortal  loot  had  ever  crossed. 

In  the  later  Jewish  times  and  early  ages  of  Christianity, 
a  similarly  unrestricted  piay  had  been  left  to  invention. 
It  was  only  needed  to  put  Eden  in  the  farthest  north  or 
east,  and  no  one  could  disprove  it.  The  writer  of  the 
Book  of  Enoch^  relates  how  "  as  he  looked  towards  the 
north,  over  the  mountains,  he  saw  seven  mountains  full 
of  precious  balsam  and  odorous  trees,  and  cinnamon  and 
pepper.  From  thence  I  went  over  the  summits  of  these 
mountains  far  towards  the  east,  and  passed  on  still  farther 
over  the  sea,  and  came  far  beyond  it.  And  I  came  into 
the  garden  of  righteousness,  and  saw  a  many  coloured 
crowd  of  trees  of  every  kind,  for  many  and  great  trees 
flourish  there,  very  noble  and  lovely,  and  the  tree  of 
wisdom,  which  gives  wisdom  to  any  one  who  eats  of  it. 
It  is  like  the  Johanuis  bread  tree;  its  fruit  is  like  a  cluster 
'  Calviii,  On  GenesiB.  '  Kap.  32. 


^i 


.1 


I 


108 


THE   STORY   OF   EDEN. 


of  grapes,  very  good ;  and  the  fragrance  of  tlie  tree  spreads 
far  around.  And  I  said,  '  Fair  is  this  tree,  and  how  beauti- 
ful and  ravishing  its  look  ! '  And  the  holy  angel  Raphael, 
who  was  with  me,  answered  and  said  to  me,  *  This  is 
the  tree  of  wisdom  of  which  thy  forefathers,  thy  hoary 
first  parent,  and  thy  aged  first  mother  ate,  and  found  the 
knowledge  of  wisdom,  and  their  eyes  were  opened,  and 
they  knew  that  they  were  naked,  and  were  driven  out 
of  the  garden.'  **  Josephus  is  less  extravagant  in  his 
locality,  but  equally  singular  in  his  geography.  "  The 
garden,''  says  he,*  ''  was  watered  by  one  river  which  ran 
round  about  the  whole  earth,  and  was  divided  into  four 
streams.  And  Pison  (the  first  stream),  which  means  'a 
multitude,'  running  into  India,  falls  into  the  sea,  and  is 
called  Ganges  by  the  Greeks.  The  Euphrates  and  the 
Tigris^  run  into  the  ErythraBan  Sea,  and  Gihon  runs 
through  Egypt,  and  means  '  what  rises  in  the  east,'  which 
the  Greeks  call  the  Nile."  Fancies  as  fague  prevailed 
till  comparatively  modern  times,  but  they  necessarily  fell 
into  disrepute  as  intelligence  awoke  and  knowledge  in- 
creased. Luther  believed  it  impossible  ever  to  discover 
the  true  locality.  ''  Paradise,  shut  at  first  by  the  sin  of 
man,  has  since  been  so  utterly  wasted  and  overwhelmed 
by  the  flood  that  no  trace  of  it  remains."  Calvin,  on  the 
other  hand,  would  on  no  account  grant  this,  and  main- 
tained that  the  world  was  the  same  as  was  created  at 
first :  adding  that  "Moses,  indeed,  in  his  opinion,  accommo- 
dated his  topography  to  the  comprehension  of  his  age. 


t» 


*  Antiq.,  i.  1,  3. 

'  There  has  never  been  any  dispute  as  to  these  two  rivers  being 
meant.  Perath  (the  sweet  waters)  is  simply  the  old  Assyrian 
name  Purat.  In  old  Pei'sian  it  is  UfraLu,  "the  fair  flowing  river." 
Hiddekel  is  the  same  word  as  Hidiglab,  a  name  for  the  Tigris, 
in  the  Assyrian  inscu'i prions.     It  means  "  the  arrow-swift." 


THE    STOET   OF   EDEN. 


109 


i 


t  9 


Paradise,  the  Reformer  fancied,  must  have  been  between  the 
east  and  Judaea,  and  indeed  in  Southern  Mesopotamia, 
where  he  fixed  it,  in  a  map  prefixed  to  his  Commentary. 

Luther's  opinion,  however,  became  the  more  popular ; 
for  though  it  was  hard  to  give  up  attempts  to  decide  the 
locality  of  Eden,  his  idea  of  changes  since  brought  about 
on  the  earth's  surface  offered  a  ready  escape  from  any 
difficulties.  It  was  hard,  indeed,  to  believe  that  the 
Euphrates  and  Tigris,  the  Indus  and  the  Ganges,  or  the 
Indus  and  the  Oxus,  or  the  Ganges  and  the  Nile,  had 
ever  sprung  from  one  parent  stream,  but  attempts  were 
made  to  explain  the  Gihon  and  the  Pison  so  as  to  bring 
them  closer  together.  They  were  identified  by  Reland  ^ 
as  the  Araxes,  which  falls  into  the  Caspian,  and  the  Phasis, 
which  flows  into  the  Black  Sea ;  but  as  this  placed  Eden 
on  the  barren  mountains  of  Armenia,  various  modifica- 
tions of  his  views  have  since  been  made.  They  still,  how- 
ever, influence  the  investigations  of  not  a  few. 

It  would  be  wearisome  to  quote  at  length  the  widely 
contrasted  opinions  which  otter  themselves  in  the  long 
list  of  writings  more  or  less  fully  devoted  to  this  subject, 
for  it  embraces  not  fewer  than  eighty  treatises.  Palestine, 
Syria,  Armenia,  Mesopotamia,  Persia,  the  Delta  of  the 
Indus,  Cashmere,  one  of  the  South  Sea  Islands,  the  Canary 
Islands,  St.  Gothard  in  the  Alps,  and  even  the  shores  of 
the  Baltic,  have  been  zealously  advocated  as  the  seat  of 
Paradise. 

The  most  recent  discussions  are  as  widely  opposed  as 
those  of  former  times.  Dillmanu,^  an  eminent  critic,  for 
example,  after  defining  the  meaning  of  the  names  Pison 
and  Gihon  as  "  the  broad- flowing,''  and  the  "  breaker- 
forth,''  thinks  that  even  names  so  little  distinguishing, 

*  A  great  Dutch  theologian,  born  1676,  died  1718. 

•  Art.  Eden,  Schenkel's  Bib.  Lexicon,  vol.  ii.  p.  44. 


;| 


i 


i''i  It 


pcf 


no 


THE   STOBT  OF   EDEN. 


leave  less  difficulty  than  might  be  expected  in  understand- 
ing to  what  they  refer.  Kuach,  he  goes  on  to  say,  is 
always,  in  the  Old  Testament,  the  name  for  the  most 
southern  lands  and  races  of  the  then  known  earth,  whether 
in  the  narrower  sense  of  African  Ethiopia,  or  as  includ- 
ing the  part  of  Asia  to  which  also  that  name  was  given. 
Havilah  is  mentioned  as  a  Kushite  tribe  on  the  southern 
coast  of  the  Red  Sea,  and  also  as  a  tribe  sprung  from 
Joktan,  on  the  Persian  Gulf,  and  occurs  along  with  Saba 
and  Ophir.  Even  Judea  may  be  supposed  to  be  meant 
from  the  products  mentioned.*  Pison  and  Gihon  can 
hardly  be  any  other  than  the  Ganges  and  the  Indus. 
The  seat  of  Eden  must  therefore,  in  his  opinion,  be  re- 
presented as  at  the  Himalaya  Mountains  in  Northern 
India,  though  the  vast  distance  between  the  Mesopota- 
mian  rivers  and  those  of  Hindostan  make  it  hard  to  think 
how  the  four  could  have  been  fancied  as  springing  from 
one  head.  Professors  Maspero^  and  Renan*  tell  us  very 
positively  that  the  moderns  have  suceeded  in  det.^rmining 
the  site  more  exactly  than  the  ancients.  They  have 
placed  it  in  the  mountains  of  Bolor.(Belourtagh),  not  far 
from  the  point  where  that  chain  joins  the  Himalaya,  on 
the  plateau  of  Pamir.  This  would  place  Eden  on  the 
other — northern — side  of  the  stupendous  range  of  the 
Hindoo  Koosh  mountains,  straight  north  from  Peshawur, 
and  east  of  Bokhara,  on  a  plateau  known  as  the  Roof  of 
the  World,  from  its  great  elevation. 

^  The  bdellium  of  Havilah  is  supposed  by  Rosenmiiller  {Hand- 
huch  Bib.  Alt.)  to  mean  pearls.  Miihlau  and  Volck,  and  Fiirst,  sup- 
pose it  to  have  been  an  odorous  resin  or  gum  of  a  tree  growing 
in  Arabia,  Media,  and  India.  On  the  other  hand,  Lefmann  {Gcsch. 
des  Alfen  Indiens,  p.l)  compares  the  Hebrew  word  Bedolah,  spelfc 
by  liim  Bodora.  with  the  Sansc.  Vadara«=the  cotton  plant. 

2  Hhtoire  Ancienne  (1876),  p.  133. 

•  Hutoire  Generate  dea  Langues  Semitiquee  (3rd  ed.),  pp.  476-490. 


THE   STORT   OF   EDEN. 


Ill 


Ebers,!  another  distinguished  critic,  finds  the  Gihon  in 
fcho  Nile,  which,  he  tells  us,  is  still  called  Keen  by  the 
Copts,  and  Gihon  by  the  Abyssinians.  But  he  adds  that 
the  name  was  given  to  many  rivers  by  the  dwellers  on 
their  banks,  to  flatter  themselves  with  the  belief  that 
they  lived  in  the  seat  of  Paradise.  Gihon,  he  thinks, 
was,  also,  the  Ganges,  which  was  still  supposed  to  be  one 
with  the  Nile,  in  the  days  of  Alexander  the  Great.^  In 
the  same  way  the  Euphrates  was  imagined  by  many  in 
the  second  century  after  Christ  to  join  the  Nile,'  and, 
even  in  the  sixth  century,  the  monk  Cosmas,*  the  great 
geographical  authority  of  the  Middle  Ages,  makes  the 
Ganges  and  the  Nile  one  stream.'  The  difficulties  thup 
raised  are  to  Ebers  so  great  that  he  ends  by  saying, 
'*  We  entirely  agree  with  Delitzsch,  that '  Paradise  is  lost,' 
and  the  four  streams  are  on  this  account  a  riddle  which 
cries,  '  Where  was  Paradise  ? '  the  question  remaining 
without  an  answer." 


*  JEgypten  und  die  Biicher  Mo8e*8,  pp.  29  ff. ;  Ges.  Thes.,  p.  282. 

*  Arrian,  vi.  1.  "  Alexander,  seeing  crocodiles  on  the  Indus, 
thought  he  had  found  the  source  of  the  Nile,  fancying  that  it  rose 
in  India,  and  lost  the  name  of  Indus  from  flowing  through  the 
desert."  *  Pausanias,  ii.  v.  2. 

*  An  Alexandrian  monk  of  the  6th  century.  He  visited  many 
countries  in  Asia  and  Africa.  The  science  of  his  day  may  be 
judged  from  his  maintaining  that  the  earth  was  of  a  long  narrow 
rectangular  shape,  surrounded  by  a  high  wall,  and  that  towards 
the  North  Pole  were  high  mountains,  round  which  the  sun, 
planets,  and  stars  revolved.  If  this  was  the  knowledge  of  the 
universe  in  his  time,  what  must  it  have  been  2,000  years  before. 

'  Horaer's  idea  of  the  world  is  seen  in  the  lines,  Iliad,  xxi 

195-197. 

The  ocean. 

From  which  all  the  rivers,  and  all  the  seas. 

And  all  the  streams  and  springing  brooks  flow  forth. 

The  ocean  was,  in  fact,  supposed  to  flow  round  the  earth. 


\' 


112 


THB   STOBY   OF   RDBN. 


Undismayed  by  so  many  failures  and  by  so  many 
diflferent  theories.  Sir  Henry  Rawlinson  has  within  i  few 
years  back  advanced  a  new  view,  with  great  confideuco 
in  its  correctness.  He  tells  us  that  the  "  Gan  Eden/'  in 
which  the  Hebrews  place,  "  the  Garden  of  Eden,"  was  in 
reality  the  national  name  of  the  province  of  Babvlon,  and 
that  the  four  rivers  watering  it  are  two  branches  of  the 
Tigris  and  of  the  Euphrates,  which  are  often  used  in  the 


Map  ov  thb  Wori:.d  bt  Coskab,  "Thb  Mak  who  Sailbd  to  India."     Middle  ov 
6th  Cbhtuby.    Fboh  thb  Obioiital  Pbini  iir  thb  Bbxiish  Musbuu. 


1.  The  great  ocean  suTroanding  the 

whole  earth. 

2.  The  Caspian  Sea. 
8.  The  river  Pison. 

4.  The  four  great  winds. 
6.  The  MediteiTanean. 


6.  The  Red  Sea. 

7.  The  Persian  Gulf,  with  the  river 

Tigris,  Euphrates,  and  part  of  the 
river  Gihon. 

8.  The  river  Gibon  (joined  to  the  Nile). 

9.  The  sources  of  the  rivers  and  ocean. 


inscriptions,  to  describe  the  region,  when  its  streams  are 
to  be  mentioned.*  Pressel,  also,  an  accomplished  scholar, 
has  lately  advanced  once  more,  with  great  confidence,  in 
a  long  monogram,*  the  view  of  Calvin,  which  has  had 
many  other  supporters  since,  that  Eden  lay  in  the  district 

*  Journal  of  Asiatic  Soc.  {Annual  Bepoi,  1869),  pp.  xxiii.  xxiv. 

•  Taradiea,    Herzog,  vol.  v.  xx.  pp.  332-377. 


THE   8T0RT  OF    EDEN. 


113 


on  the  Persian  Gulf,  where  the  Euphrates  and  Tigris 
unite  to  form  the  stream  known  as  the  Schatt  el  Arab. 
Calvin  fancied  the  Pison  and  Gihon  to  have  been  the  two 
mouths  of  this  river ;  but  it  is  a  question  whether  they 
are  both  of  ancient  date.  Pressel  adopts  a  modification 
of  this  theory/  which  he  urges  with  remarkable  acute- 
ness.  The  Pison  and  Gihon,  in  his  opinion,  are  the  two 
eastern  tributaries  of  the  Schatt  el  Arab,  the  Karun  and 
the  Kertha.    To  get  the  "  four  heads,''  he  supposes  the 


TkB  HBA.yBrr8  AVD  EA.BTH  OF  GOSU AS. 


1.  The  settings  sun. 

8. 

The  Garden  of  Eden. 

2.  The  rising  sun. 

9. 

Part  of  the  great  ocean  which  flows 

8.  The  arch  of  the  heavens. 

round  all  the  world. 

4.  The  mountain   which  receives  the 

10. 

The  Creator  surveying  His  works. 

rising  and  retting  sun. 

11. 

The  firmament,  dividing  and  sup- 

6. The  Mediterranean. 

porting  the  upper  waters. 

6.  The  Red  Sea. 

12. 

The  heavens  at  each  side  of  the 

7.  The  Persian  Golf. 

earth. 

describer  as  ascending  the  Euphrates,  and  thus  meeting, 
first,  these  two  waters  entering  it,  and  then  the  cen- 
tral channel  dividing  into  the  Tigris  and  Euphrates. 
Settlers  always  ascend  rivers  from  the  sea,  he  tells  us. 


*  It  was  first  advanced  by  Eask,  in  Illgen's  Zeitachrift  fur  dii 
hiatorische  Theologie,  vol.  vi.  pp.  94  S, 

VOL.  I  f 


1 


114 


THE   STOBT   OT   EDEN. 


and  those  from  whom,  first  Abraham  and  then  Moses 
derived  the  tradition,  must  have  done  so.  The  word 
Pisou,  ho  adds,  means  the  Leaper,^  and  this  exactly 
suits  the  Karun,  which  rushes  step  by  step  from  four 
different  mountain  levels,  and  thus  may  well  be  called' 
the  Cataract  Stream.  The  word  Gihon  he  agrees  with 
Dillmann  in  translating  the  Breaker-through,  and  finds 
it  precisely  indicating  the  characteristics  of  the  Kertha, 
which  "  breaks  through  the  mountains  and  descents 
of  Laristan  by  wild  clefts  and  cross  valleys  with  a 
thousand  windings."  The  four  regions  named  in  the 
Mosaic  account,  Eden,  Havilah,  Ethiopia  or  Kusch,  and 
Assyria,  are  all  found  in  the  vicinity  of  this  district. 
Kusch  is  identified  with  the  present  Khuzistan,  which 
borders  the  Schatt  el  Arab,  and  is  watered  by  both  the 
Karun  and  the  Kertha.  He  says,  with  great  force,  that 
though  the  name  Cush  was  doubtless  applied  in  after 
ages  to  the  regions  south  of  Egypt  and  to  Arabia,  the 
account  of  Eden  must  refer  to  its  first  application,  when 
the  progenitors  of  the  Cu,shites  still  lived  in  their 
original  homes.  Havilah,*  the  Sandland, — that  is  appar- 
ently the  Gold-sandland, — he  thinks  must  have  been  the 
district  afterwards  known  as  Elymais  or  Susiana,  which 


» 


*  Dillmann  translates  it  "  The  Broad -flowing.' 

^  Gen.  z.  29  has  the  name  Havilah  as  the  district  of  an  Arab 
stock  sprung  from  Joktan.  In  Gen.  xxv.  18,  it  is  said  to  be 
the  eastern  boundary  of  the  Ishmaelites,  instead  of  whom  the 
Amalekites  are  named  in  1  Sam.  xv.  7.  The  XavXoraioi  of  Strabo, 
on  the  Persian  Gulf,  have  been  thought  by  some  to  point  to  its 
locality.  Niebuhr  found  a  name  very  like  it  in  these  parts. 
There  is  another  Havilah  mentioned  (Gen.  x.  7;  1  Chron.  i.  9) 
among  the  sons  of  Cush,  which  points  to  South  Arabia  or  Ethi- 
opia. There  is  a  place  known  to  the  ancients  as  Avalitaa,  on  the 
Abyssinian  coast,  below  Bab  el  Mandeb.  The  bdellium  of  GeuesiB) 
seems  to  have  been  a  fragrant  gum,  hut  tee  note  p.  110. 


THE   BTOBT   OF  EDEN. 


115 


is  close  to  the  region  he  favours.  Eden,  as  the  name  of 
a  country,  he  supposes  to  have  beou  Mesopotamia,  and 
from  all  this,  he  concludes,  that  the  now  swampy  lowlands 
at  the  mouth  of  the  united  Euphrates  and  Tigris,  were, 
certainly,  the  site  of  Paradise.^  Unfortunately  for  this 
hypothesis,  Sir  Henry  Rawlinson  tells  us  *  that  the  delta 
of  the  Schatt  el  Arab  advances  at  the  rate  of  an  English 
mile  in  sixty-six  years,  and  must  have  grown  in  early 
times  at  the  rate  of  a  mile  in  half  that  time,  which  would 
imply  the  addition  of  from  150  to  200  miles  of  land  to 
the  locality  since  the  days  of  Adam. 

Traditions  of  a  primitive  state  of  innocence  reflect  in 
every  age  and  nation  the  truth  of  the  narrative  of  Genesis. 
They  date,  in  fact,  from  before  the  separation  of  mankind 
into  different  races,  all  countries  evidently  drawing  them 
from  a  common  source.^  Coloured  by  local  surround- 
ings, national  history,  and  heathenism,  the  story  of  a 
happy  past,  when  "  men,  as  yet  without  any  evil  pas- 
sions, passed  their  lives  without  reproach  and  crimes, 
and  therefore  without  punishments  and  restraints,"  has 
everywhere  been  cherished  by  mankind.  *  The  ancient 
Egyptians  looked  bajk  on  the  terrestrial  reign  of  the 
god  Ra,  as  a  time  of  such  purity  and  happiness,  that 
they  were  wont  to  speak  of  anything  especially  perfect, 
as  having  been  unequalled  since  the  days  of  that  god, 

^  Paradise  means  a  place  fenced  round ;  and  hence,  a  park,  a 
garden  with  trees.  The  pleasure  grounds  and  gardens  of  the 
Persian  kings  were  called  "  Paradises."  Xenophon  describes  one 
belonging  to  them  as  a  garden  very  large  and  beautiful,  having 
all  things  which  the  seasons  produce.    Anab.,  iv.  10. 

^  Journal  of  the  Geographical  Society,  vol.  xxvii.  p.  186. 

*  Ewald's  Geschichte,  vol.  i.  p.  342.  Lassen,  Indische  Alter' 
thnvishimde,  vol.  i.  p.  628.  Buuau,  Histoire  dee  Lanijues  Semi* 
tiques,  p.  457. 

*  Tac,  Ann.»  iii.  26. 


116 


THE    STORY   OF   EDEN. 


Before  the  separation  of  the  Aryan  and  Somitic  races, 
the  belief  was  common  to  both  that  the  first  ago  of 
humanity  was  one  of  innocence  and  bliss.  The  Aryans, 
ind(>e(],  developed  this  belief,  in  a  way  peculiar  to  them, 
into  a  tradition  of  successive  ages  of  decreasing  purity 
and  hapi)iness.  Thus,  in  India,  they  held  that  the  course 
of  the  world,  which  was  to  last  for  4,320,000  years, 
was  pre-ordained  to  exhibit — first,  the  age  of  perfection ; 
then,  that  of  threefold  sacrifice,  when  all  religious  duties 
were  faultlessly  performed;  next,  that  of  doubt  and 
religions  decline ;  and  lastly,  our  own,  that  of  perdition, 
with  which  the  earth  is  to  come  to  an  end.^  The  Greeks 
had  their  successive  ages  of  gold,  silver,  iron,  and  brass ; 
f.fld  the  Persians,  also,  had  the  same  idea,  in  a  form  of 
their  own.  The  world,  with  them,  is  to  last  12,000 
years,  di^nded  into  four  periods  of  3,000  each.  Of  these, 
the  first  was  all  pure;  in  the  second,  evil  appears  and 
declares  war  against  good,  in  a  struggle  which  is  to  last 
till  the  whole  drama  closes.  But  in  all  these  conceptions, 
there  is  a  marked  contrast  with  the  narrative  of  Scripture, 
for  in  all,  alike,  corruption  grows  by  a  fell  necessity, 
through  mere  continuance.  Born  of  the  light,  the  uni- 
verse grows  darker  the  farther  it  recedes  from  it.  Evil 
is  not  a  matter  of  choice,  but  a  decree  of  fate.  How 
inferior  this  to  the  Scripture  teaching  ! 

The  trees  of  life,  and  of  the  knowledge  of  good  and 
evil,  have  been  no  less  widely  remembered.  The  Indian 
tradition  speaks  of  the  tree  Kalpanksham,  whose  fruit 
gave  immortality ;  among  the  Persians  a  similar  tree  was 
called  Horn  ;  among  the  Arabs,  the  Tuba ;  among  the 
Greeks,  the  Lotus.  On  the  Assyrian  sculptures  the  tree 
of  life  is  constantly  seen,  and  its  high  importance  cannot 
be  doubted.  It  sometimes  appears  alone,  sometimes  wor- 
*  Laws  of  Menu,  vol.  i.  pp.  68-86. 


THE    STORY   Of   EDKN. 


117 


sliippod  by  royftl  fipfurea,  at  others  guarded  by  winged 
loi'ius  in  an  attitude  of  adoration ;  but  it  is  always  in- 
controvortibly  one  of  the  loftiest  of  religious  emblems, 
for  we  often  see  it  surmounted  by  the  winged  disk,  the 
symbolic  image  of  the  Supreme  God,  with  occasionally 
a  human  bust  above  all.  Alike  on  the  bas-reliefs  of 
Assyrian  palaces,  and  on  both  Babylonian  and  Assyrian 
cylinders,  it  recurs  with  striking  constancy. 

All  the  traditions  of  Paradise,  in  every  country,  intro- 
duce this  mysterious  appearance.  Those  of  India  speak 
of  fou.'  such  trees  on  the  four  corners  of  Mount  Meru ; 
the  ancient  Persians  have  sometimes  a  single  tree  spring- 
ing from  the  midst  of  a  holy  spring  in  Paradise,  and 
sometimes  two,  corresponding  exactly  to  those  in  Eden. 
The  most  ancient  name  of  Babylon,  in  the  idiom  of  the 
first  dwellers  in  that  region,  was  "  The  place  of  the  tree 
of  life,'' ^  and  even  on  the  coffins  of  enamelled  clay,  of  a 
date  later  than  Alexander  the  Great,  found  at  Warka, 
the  ancient  Erech,  this  tree  appears  as  the  emblem  of 
immortality.*  Strange  to  say,  one  picture  of  it  on  an 
ancient  Assyrian  relic,  has  been  found  drawn  with  suffi- 
cient accuracy  to  enable  us  to  recognise  it  as  the  plant 
known  as  the  Soma  tree  to  the  Aryans  of  India,  and  the 
Homa  of  the  ancient  Persians,  the  crushed  branches  of 
which  yielded  a  draught  offered  as  a  libation  to  the  gods, 
as  the  water  of  immortality. 

The  Fall  in  all   its   details   finds   an  echo   in  every 

•  Lenormant.,  Contemp.  Bav.  (Sept.  1879),  p.  155. 

*  Schrader,  Jahrbiicher fur  Protest.  T/ieoZ.,  vol.  i.  p.  124.  Dolitzsch 
Chalddlsche  Genesis,  p.  304  In  Egypt  the  tree  of  life  is  seldom 
seen  except  on  funeral  monuments,  and  it  is  always  planted  besido 
*'  tlie  water  of  life."  A  Divine  iorm,  in  the  midst  of  the  tree  is, 
also,  always  represented  as  pouring  forth  this  water  of  immor- 
tality to  souIh,  person  1  tied  by  birds  with  human  heads.  Vigoth 
roux,  vol.  i.  p.  196. 


118  THB   STORY   OV  EDEN. 

relijifion  of  the  world.  Yeina,  the  first  man  in  Aryan 
trndition,  passod  his  life  in  a  state  of  bliss,  till  ho  com- 
mitted tho  sin  which  weighs  on  his  descendants^  and  for 
this  he  was  driven  out  of  Paradise  after  beinpr  a  thousand 
years  in  it,  and  was  given  up  to  the  dominion  of  tho 
Serpent,  who  finally  brought  about  his  death  by  horrible 
torments.^  In  one  of  the  oldest  portions  of  the  sacred 
scriptures  of  Zoroastrianism,  the  good  god,  Ahuramazda, 
speaks  of  his  having  created  man  perfect,  in  "  the  best  of 
dwelling  places,''  and  of  the  evil  spirits  having  formed, 
out  of  the  river  and  winter,  the  murderous  serpent, 
man's  destroyer.^  A  later,  but  still  primitive,  variation 
of  this  tradition  discribes  man  as  created  holy,  and 
destined  to  immortal  happiness,  if  he  continued  pure  in 
thought,  word,  and  deed,  and  humble  in  heart.  At  first 
he  remained  true  to  God,  but,  later,  falsehood  ran 
through  his  thoughts;  for  the  evil  spirit,  the  serpent^ 
seduced  first  the  woman  and  then  the  man  to  believe  that 
they  were  indebted  for  all  their  blessings,  not  to  God  but 
to  him.  Having  thus  lead  them  astray,  the  deceiver,  who 
had  lied  them  to  their  ruin,  grew  more  bold,  and  pre- 
sented himself  a  second  time,  bringing  them  fruits ,  which 
they  ate,  and  by  eating  which  they  lost  all  th  ^nindred 
blessings  they  had  had,  save  one,  and  were  wicked  and 
unhappy.  And  now,  having  ere  long  discovered  fire,  by 
Divine  revelation,  they  offered  the  first  sacrifice  of  a  sheep, 
and  began  to  eat  flesh,  and  clothe  themselves  with  the 
skins  of  the  creatures  they  killed,  and  to  make  garments 
of  their  hair.^  The  Edda  of  Snorro  Sturleson  tells  how 
the  immortal  Idhunna  lived  with  Bragi,  the  first  of  the 

*  F.  Lenormant,  Contemp.  Bev.  (Sept.  1879),  p.  152. 

*  Veudidad,  vol.  i.  pp.  6-8. 

'  Zend^vesta,  in  Rosenmiiller's  Daa  Alte  und  Neue  Morgenlandt 
vol.  i.  p.  13. 


THB   8T0BY   Of   EDEN. 


119 


■kalds  or  minstrels,  in  Asgard,  a  paradise  in  the  centre  of 
the  earth;  pure  and  innocent.  The  gods  had  entrusted 
him  with  the  guardianship  of  the  apples  of  immortality ; 
but  Loki,  the  deceiver,  the  author  of  all  evil,  seduced 
her  by  other  apples,  which  ho  anid  he  had  discovered  in 
the  woods.  Idhunna  followed  him  to  gather  them,  but 
she  was  suddenly  carried  off  by  a  giant,  and  there  was 
no  more  joy  in  Asgard.  The  Tibetan  legend  is  no  less 
striking.  The  first  men  were,  it  tells  us,  perfect  like  the 
gods,  but  they  grew  corrupt  when  they  ate  of  the  white 
sugar-sweet  Schima  tree.  Hunger  came,  and  the  bright- 
neds  of  their  faces  vanished.  They  had  had  wings  before, 
but  those  withered  away.  Men  were  henceforth  chained 
to  the  earth,  and  their  lives  were  shortened. 

Even  the  prediction  of  the  crushing  of  the  head  of  the 
serpent  has  perpetuated  itself  in  the  traditions  of  man- 
kind. Among  the  Egyptians  the  serpent  Assap  fights 
against  the  sun  and  moon,  but  is  pierced  through  by 
Horus.  The  Chaldeo-Assyrians  had  a  great  serpent 
called  "  the  enemy  of  the  gods."  Pherecides  of  Syros 
borrowed  from  the  Phenicians  an  account  of  a  great  man- 
serpent  hurled  into  Tartarus,  together  with  his  com- 
panions, by  the  god  Kronos  (El),  who  triumphed  over 
him  at  the  beginning  of  things.  It  was  under  the  form 
of  a  great  serpent  that  the  evil  spirit,  in  the  ancient 
Persian  religion,  after  having  tried  to  corrupt  heaven, 
leaped  upon  the  earth,  where  Mithra,  god  of  the  pure 
sky,  fought  with  him  while  still  in  this  shape.  It  is 
under  this  form,  moreover,  that  he  is  finally  to  be  con- 
quered and  chained  for  3000  years,  and  at  the  end  of 
the  world  burned  up  with  molten  metals.* 

Nor  did  such  traditions  confine  themselves  to  the  East. 

*  For  the  religion  of  the  ancient  Persians,  iee  Dr.  Jugt.i'a  Qe- 
tcliichte  dei  Alien  PersieriA  passim. 


120 


THE    STORY   OP   EDEN. 


We  find  traces  of  tliem  in  ancient  Roman  sculptures. 
One  famous  sarcophagus  in  the  museum  of  the  Capitol 
shows  a  man  and  woman,  naked,  standing  at  the  foot  of 
a  tree,  from  which  the  man  is  about  to  take  some  fruit, 
while  the  demon  who  has  tempted  him  is  standing  near. 
On  an  ancient  Roman  bas-reli'^f,  again,  a  huge  serpent 
is  seen  coiled  round  the  trunk  of  a  tree,  beneath  which  a 
man  and  woman,  in  primitive  nakedness,  are  standing. 
That  the  dim  perpetuation  of  the  old  Bible  story  was 
common  even  to  the  Canaanites  has,  moreover,  lately 


An  Eotftiak  Goddess  fibbciko  thb 
Sebpent's  Head. 
From  Wilkinson,  vol.  v.  plate  42. 


The  Iitdiak  God  Krishna  cbttsk 

ING   THE   SeBFENT'S  HeAD. 

From    Coleman's    Indian    Myth- 
ologtj,  p.  34. 


■W 


been  strikingly  shown  by  a  curious  painted  vase  of 
Phenician  manufacture  of  the  sixth  or  seventh  century 
B.C.,  discovered  in  one  of  the  most  ancient  sepulchres  of 
Cyprus.^  It  exhibits  a  leafy  tree,  from  the  branches  of 
which  hang  two  large  clusters  of  fruit,  while  a  great 
serpent  is  advancing  with  an  undulating  motion  towards 
the  tree,  and  rearing  itself  to  seize  its  fruit.     In  a  Scan- 

*  Lenormant,  Contemp.  Rev.  (Sept.  1879),  p.  165. 


PM 


THE   STORY   OP    EDEN. 


121 


i 


dinavian  legend,  Thor,  the  firstborn  of  the  highest  God, 
a  mediator  between  Him  and  men,  fights  with  death,  and 
in  the  struggle  is  thrown  on  his  knees ;  but  he  breaks  the 
head  of  the  great  serpent  with  his  club,  and  finally 
tramples  it  under  foot  and  slays  it,  though  at  the  price  of 
his  owi  life.i  So,  in  the  oldest  Hindoo  temples,  two 
figures  of  Krishna  are  still  seen,  in  one  of  which  he  is 
trampling  on  the  crushed  head  of  the  serpent,  while  in 
the  other  the  serpent  clings  round  him  and  bites  his 
heel.* 

Assyria,  also,  has  yielded  its  tribute  to  these  primeval 
echoes  of  the    Fall.     Among    the    relics    brought    to 


''''I 


of 

ury 
s  of 
s  of 
reafc 
ards 
can- 


i? 


Saobbd  Tbbb,  with  a  Seated  Figcrb  out  bach  Sxdb,  aitd  a  SbbpXHS 

IN  THE    BaCKQBOUND. 

From  an  early  Babylonian  Cylinder. 

England  by  Layard  is  an  ancient  Babylonian  cylinder,  on 
which  is  a  design  representing,  in  the  centre,  a  tree  with 
horizontal  branches,  with  two  bunches  of  fruit  hanging 
down,  while  on  each  side,  respectively,  sit  a  man  and  a 
woman ;  the  former  with  the  horns  of  an  ox ;  the  latter 
with  simply  a  hep.d-dress,  but  behind  her  is  a  serpent, 
erect.  It  is  impossible  in  looking  at  this  not  to  think  of 
the  Bible  story  of  the  temptation  of  Adam  and  Eve,  op 

»  Edda,  Fab.  ii.  25,  27,  32. 

■  Maurice's  History  of  Hindostan,  voL  ii.  p.  290. 


t 


Sifs 


'I  ■ 


i".'.'  y 


m 


[M 


If 


122 


THE    BTORT   OP  EDEN. 


to  doubt  that  though,  unfortunately,  the  Chaldean  narra- 
tive of  'jhe  Fall  has  not  yet  been  recovered,  it  formed 
part  o^  the  traditions  of  the  country,  or  that  the  serpent 
was  rer^ognised,  in  at  least  one  form  of  the  legend,  as 
the  agont  in  the  catastrophe.  The  dragon  Tihamat — the 
persoTiification  of  the  Tehom  of  the  Hebrews — the  abyss 
of  chaos — is,  however,  also  frequently  spoken  of  as  the 
seducer  of  mankind,  as  if  it  were  believed  in  Chaldea 
as  well  as  with  us,  that  the  serpent  was  simply  the 
instrument  of  the  great  spirit  of  evil. 

George  Smith  discovered,  among  the  ruins  of  Kouyun- 
djik,  the  curse  pronounced  on  the  offenders  after  their 
transgression.  His  translation  is  confessedly  uncertain ; 
but,  such  as  it  is,  the  following  is  the  principal  part 
of  it : — 

The  Lord  of  the  earth  called  his  name ;  the  Father  Hu 
In  the  ranks  of  the  angels  pronounces  the  curse. 
The  god  Hea  heard,  and  his  liver  grew  angry, 
Because  the  man  had  corrupted  his  purity. 
Thus  (spake)  Hea :  "  How  can  I  puniib — 
(How  can  1)  destroy  all  my  race  !  " 
In  the  language  of  the  fifty  great  gods, 
By  their  fifty  names  he  calls  them,  and  he  turns  himself 
F'om  him  (man)  in  wrath. 

"  Let  him  be  overcome  and  destroyed  at  a  blow,"  (said  he). 
"  Let  wisdom  and  science  be  against  him  ^nd  hurt  him. 
.    Let  enmity  be  between  father  and  son.    Let  robbery  abound. 
Let  them  bend  their  ear  to  their  king,  their  chief,  their  ruler. 
Let  the  n  thus  finger  the  lord  of  the  gods,  Merodach. 
Let  the  earth  produce,  but  let  not  mar;  eat  of  its  bounty. 
Let  his  desires  be  frustrated;  his  will  unaccomplished.     , 
Let  no  god  take  heed  when  he  opens  his  mouth. 
Let  his  back  be  hurt  and  not  cured. 
Let  no  god  hear  the  piercing  cry  of  his  anguish. 
Let  his  heart  faint  and  his  soul  be  troubled."  ' 


Chaldean  Genesis,  pp.  84,  8 


5. 


THE   STORY  OF   EDEN. 


123 


'•1 


This  lengthened  malediction  falls  far  short  of  the 
dignity  of  the  curse  pronounced  in  Genesis,  but  it  is 
impossible  not  to  feel  that  it  refers  to  the  same  crisis  in 
our  history  as  a  race. 

That  the  sacred  tree  of  Assyria  is  sometimes  guarded 
by  genii  is  an  additional  coincidence  with  the  Bible 
narrative,  which  tells  us  of  God's  placing  cherubim 
'*  before "  Eden,  "  and  a  flaming  sword  which  turned 
every  way,  to  keep  the  way  of  the  Tree  of  Life/'  These 
mysterious  beings  are  often  mentioned  in  Scripture. 
They  covered  the  mercy  seat  with  their  outspread  wings ; 
they  were  represented  on  the  walls  of  the  Temple  of 
Solomon,  in  the  Holy  of  Holies,  and  they  appear  in  the 
vision  of  Ezekiel.  The  tradition  of  their  presence  in 
Eden  impressed  itself  deeply  on  the  popular  mind  in 
Assyria,  reappearing  age  after  age  in  such  forms  as  the 
wiuged  bulls  with  human  faces,  which  guarded  the  en- 
trances to  the  palace  of  Nineveh.  "  The  watchful  bull, 
which  protects  the  strength  of  my  kingdom  and  the 
glory  of  my  honour,"  says  Asarhaddon,  in  an  inscription 
which  refers  to  one  of  them.  Nor  is  it  less  oiriking  that 
they  bear  the  very  name  of  Cherubim,  or  Kerubi ;  even 
the  gates  which  they  watched  coming  in  the  end  to  be 
similarly  called.  That  they  were  regarded  as  at  least 
symbols  of  mysterious  higher  existences,  able  to  protect 
ard  preserve  what  was  put  under  their  care,  is  evident 
from  their  place  being  Fometimes  ocoupied  by  kno^^n 
divinities,  and  by  the  fact  that  a  bas-relief,  representing 
the  erection  of  one,  under  the  direction  of  King  Senna- 
cherib, bears  on  it,  after  tho  divine  symbol,  the  words, 
"  the  bull,"  "  the  god."  ^ 

The  flaming  sword  of  which  Moses  speaks  as  in  the 

*  Lenormant's  Baroae,  pp.  80,  135.  Lea  Originea  de  VHistoire 
pp.  109-117. 


124 


THE    STOP.Y   Of   EDEN. 


t 

i 
ft 


hands  of  the  cherubim  has  often  exercised  the  ingenuity 
of  scholars,  but  it  must,  we  fear,  remain  for  ever  a 
mystery.  Could  it  be  the  lightning  which  we  see  repre- 
sented in  Assyrian  sculptures  as  held  by  the  god  Bin,  the 
deity  of  the  air,  in  the  form  of  a  flame  spoken  of  as  "  a 
sword  of  fire  "f^  An  old  Accadian  fragment,  translated 
by  Lenormant,  perhaps  assists  a  judgment — a  nameless 
god  boasting  in  it,  with  high  exultation,  of  possessing  a 
sword  formed  of  seven  rays  of  fire,  shooting  out  into  a 
revolving  circle  of  fifty  tongues  of  flame.  A  translation 
of  this  curious  legend  has  been  published,  and  furnishes 
matter  so  interesting  that  a  short  extract  may  be  useful. 

In  my  right  hand  1  hold  my  disk  of  fire, 

In  my  left  I  grasp  my  disk  of  slaughter. 

The  sun  with  fifty  faces    .    .    a  snr  which  never  turns  back— 

The  mighty  weapon  which,  like  a  sword,  devours  in  a  circle 

The  bodies  of  my  enemies, — 

The  weapon  that  breaks  the  mountains    .    . 

The  flaming  blade  of  battle,  which  wastes  the  rebellious  land, 

The  great  sword  which  overthrovFS  the  ranks  of  the  valiant.' 

Another  legend  has  been  discovered,  and  translated  by 
Mr.  Fox  Talbot,  which  no  less  strikingly  illustrates  the 
sword  of  the  cherubim.  The  subject  is  the  "  Fight 
between  Bel  and  the  Dragon.''  The  god  appears  armed 
with  his  flaming  sword. 

He  raised  it  in  his  hand ; 
He  brandished  the  lightnings  before  him. 
A  curved  scimitar  he  carried  on  his  body. 
And  he  made  a  sword  to  destroy  the  dragon. 
Which  turned  four  ways.    .    .  , 

'  Eawlin  son's  Great  Monarchies,  vol.  i.  p.  164. 
*  Lenormant  Les  Premieres  Cijilisations,  vol.  ii.  p.  193.    Le§ 
Origines,  n.  p.  135. 


). 


THE   STORY  OP  EDEN. 


125 


To  the  south,  the  north,  the  east,  and  the  west. 

He  made  a  whirling  thunderbolt— with  double  flames  * 

Impossible  to  extinguish.'^ 

Id  all,  he  took  with  him  seven  thunderbolts  or  light- 
nings.^ 

Such  were  the  legends  of  Western  Asia,  but  those  of 
the  east  and  of  the  central  plains  were  no  less  striking. 
Heavenly  beings,  armed  with  the  lightnings,  guard  the 
Soma  tree  of  Indian  fable ;  and  on  the  steppes  of  Asia,  the 
Tartars,  in  keeping  with  their  pastoral  habits,  believe  that 
there  is,  somewhere,  a  grass  known  as  the  grass  of  life, 
which  is  protected  by  a  supernatural  being  on  horseback.* 

Nor  are  such  illustrations  of  the  external  facts  of  the 
Bible  narrative  the  only  echoes  of  Paradise  which  lingered 
among  mankind.  The  existence  and  origin  of  evil  were 
a  special  theme  of  ancient  poets  and  philosophers.  The 
Greeks  especially,  among  Western  nations,  delighted  to 
dwell  on  the  subject. 

Thus  Hesiod,  in  the  9th  or  8th  century  before  Christ, 
tells  us  that  men  at  first  lived  happy,  free  from  toil  and 
sickness,  or  evils  of  any  kind. 

Lo,  at  first,  lived  the  race  of  earth-tilling  men 
Kept  far  from  suffering  or  from  weary  toil. 
And  from  sad  disease  which  brings  death  to  mankind, 
For  trouble  makes  mortals  grow  early  old.* 


it 


rJ 


^.  ri 


Le§ 


*  Forked  lightning. — The  flaming  sword  of  the  Assyrian 
legends  is,  in  fact,  only  the  Tchakra  of  Indian  mythology— a 
circular  weapon  edged  with  sharp  swords,  wliich  was  made  to 
whirl  rapidly,  and  thrown  out  before  the  warrior  who  used  it,ai.d 
then  pulled  back  to  be  hurled  out  again.  Leuormant,  Les 
Origines,  etc.,  p.  133. 

*  Bib.  Arch.,  vol.  v.  pp.  1-21. 

•  Weber's  Lid.  Stud.,  vol.  ii.  p.  313. 

♦  Works  and  Days,  lines  90-93.    The  other  quotations  are  lines 


126 


THE    STOBY   OF   EDEN. 


Plenty  and  contentment  filled  their  souls,  amidst  their 
easily  gained  though  simple  living.  • 

Easily,  then,  would  they  do  in  one  day  the  work 
Wliich  now  needs  a  full  year,  and  that  often  profitless ; 
Soon  then  rested  the  helm  of  the  boat  over  the  hearth, 
And  brief  were  the  toils  of  the  ox  and  the  load-bearing  mule. 

But  this  state  did  not  continue  long.  Prometheus 
deceives  Jupiter,  the  father  of  gods  and  mortals,  and  as  a 
punishment  on  the  human  race,  fire  is  hidden  from  them. 
But  Prometheus,  whose  offence,  like  that  of  the  sons  of 
Eli  at  Shiloh,  was  taking  for  common  use  some  of  the 
flesh  and  fat  of  sacred  offerings,  dexterously  discovers 
the  fire,  and  takes  it  away,  unknown  to  the  Thunderer,  in 
the  hollow  of  a  staff,  and  gives  it  to  man.  Then  Jupiter 
threatens  him. 

Thou  art  glad  to  have  snatched  away  the  fire  and  deceived 

me; 
Look  then  for  woe  on  thyself  and  the  future  generations  of 

men. 
T  give  them  with  fire  a  curse,  in  which  all 
Shall  rejoice  in  their  hearts,  embracing  the  evil  I  send. 

He  now  sends  Pandora,  the  first  woman,  formed  by 
Hephaistos,  and  presented  by  each  of  the  gods  with  a 
gift.  Epimetheus,  forgetful  of  the  warning  of  his  brother, 
Prometheus,  never  to  take  a  gift  from  Jupiter,  takes  a 
casquet  he  gives,  opens  the  lid,  and  forthwith  all  the 
evils  of  man's  lot  fly  out. 

43-46,  47,  65-68,  101-104.  The  Bible,  it  will  be  noticed,  differs 
in  its  story  of  the  Fall  from  all  heathen  traditions,  in  leaving 
absolute  moral  freedom  to  man,  and  with  it  responsibility  and 
power  of  restoration;  whereas,  outside  its  statements  there  ii 
nothing  but  latal  destiny,  destructive  of  all  true  morality. 


I 


THE   STORY   OP   EDEN. 


127 


Th«  eaj'th  aronnd  is  full  of  ovil,  and  so  is  the  wide  sea. 
Diseases  as  well,  by  day  and  also  by  night, 
ApfU'oacli  unbidden  and  bring  evils  to  mortals. 
They  come  still  and  softly,  for  Zeus  Kronion  has  made  them 
dumb. 

Only  Hope  remains  behind  in  the  casket ;  Pandora,  at 
the  counsel  of  Jupiter,  having  closed  the  lid  before  this 
also  flew  out.  And  now  the  poet  closes  the  pitiful  story 
by  the  moral. 

This  it  is  permitted  to  none  to  escape  Jove's  ruling  power. 

In  the  Theogony  of  Hesiod,  this  relation  is  expanded 
and  modified,  adding  the  terrible  punishment  inflicted 
on  Prometheus,  and  his  deliverance,  but  the  moral  is 
the  same  as  in  the  ''  Works  and  Days.''  "  No  one  can 
esca,pe  the  ordinances  of  Jupiter  or  circumvent  them.'' 
.^schylus,in  his  "Prometheus  Bound,"  gives,  in  the  fifth 
century  before  Christ,  a  later  expression  of  Greek  thought 
on  the  same  themes.  Men  at  first,  in  his  idea,  were 
wretched,  living  in  caves,  and  ignorant  even  of  the  course 
of  the  seasons.  Prometheus  raises  them  from  this  degra- 
dation, from  foolish  love  to  man  and  bold  defiance  of  the 
gods.  Jupiter  is  the  enemy  of  our  race  :  he  their  friend. 
His  theft  of  fire  from  heaven  is  their  salvation,  for  all  the 
arts  and  comforts  of  life  spring  from  it ;  but  he  has  to 
bear  untold  sufl'erings  on  account  of  it — sufferings,  never- 
theless, ultimately  removed.  How  they  were  so  is,  how- 
ever, left  to  a  third  tragedy,  now  unfortunately  lost. 

The  resemblances  between  these  highest  expressions  of 
the  thought  of  antiquity,  echoing  in  their  own  way  primi- 
tive tradition,  show  striking  similarities  in  their  leading 
features  to  the  Old  Testament  narrative.  Both  paint  the 
original  state  of  man  as  one  of  freedom  from  all  suffering, 
through  happy  contentment  and  unbroken  peace  with 


■  i: 


^'1 
'^1 


i¥: 


128 


THE    STORY   OF    EDEN. 


■1! 


God ;  both  account  for  the  origin  of  evil  and  the  consequent 
loss  of  man's  first  estate ;  both  link  its  entrance  on  oilr 
world  with  an  act  of  disobedience  towards  the  Godhead, 
and  ascribe  its  committal  to  the  agency  of  woman.  The 
Old  Testament  says  that  through  eating  the  forbidden 
fruit  man  became  like  God,  in  the  knowledge  of  good  and 
evil ;  the  Greeks  that  the  act  which  brought  sorrow  into 
the  world  was  also  the  opening  of  a  new  and  higher  era 
of  knowledge  :  the  exchange  of  a  childlike  state  for  a  more 
complete  one. 

The  contrasts,  however,  are  still  more  striking  thr.n  the 
resemblances.  Genesis  portrays  God  as  the  One  only 
self-existent  and  indoeudent ;  the  universe  as  the  crea- 
tion absolutely  under  His  control ;  sin  as  a  voluntary 
transgression  of  His  law,  which  itself,  as  a  reflection  of 
His  nature,  is  holy,  just,  and  good.  The  Greek  mind  sees 
in  Jupiter  a  being,  who  while  supreme  as  regards  man,  is 
himself  controlled  by  fate :  one  who  acts  by  tyrannical 
caprice,  wholly  dissociated  from  moral  considerations. 
It  sees  in  the  world  a  self-existent,  and  therefore  partly 
independent,  rival  to  him,  and  in  sin  a  misfortune  rather 
than  a  fault.  "  The  Fall,"  to  the  Greek,  is  a  struggle  of 
violence  and  craft  between  man  and  the  Godhead,  in  which 
tha  latter  conquers,  as  it  were  by  accident,  and,  at  most, 
by  outward  power.  In  the  Old  Testament,  F.In  is  the  un- 
holy opposition  of  the  creature  to  the  Holy  Creator ;  of 
the  absolutely  dependent  to  the  absolutely  Independent. 
Blohim  sits  throned  in  unapproachable  power,  wisdom 
and  holiness ;  the  law-giver,  the  judge,  the  puuigher  of  man 
— the  guilty  transgressor,  created  sufficient  to  have  stood, 
but  free  to  fall,  and  choosing  of  his  free  will  to  sin.^     In 

*  See  a  fine  article  by  Dr.  G.  Baur,  on  Die  AUtestamentliche 
und  die  GriecJiische  Vorstellnng  vom  Silndenfalle,  Studien  und 
KriiiAsew  (1848),  pp.  321-368. 


TUiS  STOUT   OF   EDEN. 


129 


the  Bible,  moreover,  the  spectacle  is  presented  from  the 
first,  of  the  continued  rise  of  man  from  the  ruin  of  his 
early  siu.  In  paj^anisra  we  have  the  golden  age  surely 
darkening  into  thiit  of  iron. 

The  highest  flights  of  human  speculation  are  repre- 
sented by  the  Greek  conceptions,  but  we  feel  at  once 
how  immeasurably  they  fall  below  the  simple  but  divine 
philosophy  of  Genesis — the  legacy  of  a  race  to  whom  ab- 
abstract  speculation  was  unknown  ;  a  race  which  accepted 
without  question,  as  final  truths,  what  its  prophets  and 
holy  men  received  by  inspiration.  How  comes  it,  to  use 
the  words  of  J.  G.  Fichte,  who  certainly  had  no  undue 
leaning  towards  revelation,  that  "  The  ancient  and  ven- 
erable record,''  in  which  we  find  the  Hebrew  teachings, 
"  taken  altogether,  contains  the  profoundest  and  the 
loftiest  wisdom,  and  presents  those  results  to  which  all 
philosophy  must  at  last  return"  ?^  What  answer  can  be 
given  except  that  God  Himself  is  its  Author  ? 

Note. — In  connection  with  the  words  Gen.  iii.  18, "Thorns  also 
and  thistles  shall  it  bring  forth  to  thee,  "the  Rev.  Hugh  Macmillan 
strikingly  observes — "  It  is  a  remarkable  circumstance  that 
whenever  man  cultivates  nature,  and  then  abandons  her  to  her 
own  unaided  energies,  the  result  is  far  worse  than  if  he  had  never 
attempted  to  improve  her  at  all.  There  are  no  such  thorns  found 
in  a  state  of  nature  as  those  produced  by  the  ground  which  man 
once  has  tilled,  but  has  now  deserted.  In  the  waste  clearings 
amidst  the  fern  brakes  of  New  Zealand,  and  in  the  primeval 
forests  of  Canjida,  thorns  may  now  be  seen  whiiih  were  unknown 
before.  The  netile  and  tie  thistle  follow  man  wherever  he  goes, 
and  remain  as  per[)e  nal  witnesses  of  his  presence,  even  though 
he  departs;  and  around  the  cold  hearthstone  of  the  ruined  shiel- 
ing on  the  HighUtnd  n.oor,  and  on  the  threshold  of  the  crumbling 
log-hut  in  the  Au»tra1iun  bush,  those  social  plants  may  be  seen 

»  QuotedinBrentano'sB?!)Ze,vol.i.p.l6.  (Frankfurt,  1820-1833.) 
VOL.   I.  K 


i'^l 


11! 


i  i : 

li: 


130 


THE   8T0RT   OF   EDEN. 


growing,  forming  a  singular  contrast  to  tho  vcgetntion  aronnd 
them." 

AuoLlior  extract  will  serve  as  a  note  to  page  64 : — "  All  tho 
eras  of  the  earth's  history,  previous  to  tho  Upper  Miocene,  were 
destitute  of  perfumea.  An  odoriferous  ilora,  that  of  the  labiates, 
is  met  with  only  in  the  periods  immediately  before  man.  Ba» 
60  widely  spread,  and  so  numerous  is  this  order  of  plants,  that 
in  South  Europe  they  form  one*nineteenth  of  the  flora,  and  in 
the  tropics  one-twentieth :  and  even  on  the  chill  plains  of  Lap* 
land,  out  of  every  thirty-five  plants  one  is  a  sweet-smeiliRg 
labiate." — Macmillan's  Ministry  of  Nature,  p.  25. 


10 

re 

IS, 

Ilk 
at 
in 
p. 


CHAPTER   IX. 

THE   ANTIQUITY   OP   MAll. 

IT  is  ono  of  tlie  healthiest  sii^ns  of  the  present  day  that 
all  c|ue«tioiis  are  treated  as  open  to  calm  and  serious 
investigation,  however  long  and  generally  they  may  liave 
been  regarded  as  settled.  The  search  for  truth  is  the 
noblest  occupation  of  the  mind  or  heart,  and  as  such 
must  be  pre-eminently  an  impulse  from  Him  who  made 
us  as  we  are.  To  deserve  our  homage  it  needs,  however, 
to  be  reverent ;  anxious  to  establish,  not  to  destroy ; 
patient  in  observation  and  research;  and  slow  to  admit 
conclusions  which  overthrow  accepted  opinions.  It  does 
not,  of  course,  follow  that  because  a  belief  is  of  long 
standing  it  is  right ;  but  respect  for  our  fellows,  the 
modesty  of  true  science,  and  the  presumption  in  favour 
of  hereditary  conviction,  demand  the  most  diffident  hu- 
mility in  its  examination. 

To  a  large  extent  this  is  shown  by  our  men  of  science ; 
but  the  charm  of  a  supposed  new  discovery,  the  tendency 
to  see  facts  in  the  light  of  preconceived  notions,  and  the 
rareness  of  the  philosophical  power  to  gather  a  sufficient 
basis  of  facts  before  generalizing,  tend  not  seldom  to  in- 
duce a  hastiness  in  advancing  new  theories,  which  has  at 
least  an  air  of  rashness. 

In  no  direction  has  this  been  more  noticeable  of  lato 

131 


'ill 


132 


THR    ANTIQUITY   OF   MAN. 


years  than  in  the  Rpeculations  so  much  in  vogue  respecling 
the  origin  and  the  antiquity  of  man;  for  while  some,  liko 
Dr.  Darwin,  have  borne  themselves  with  a  modesty  and 
ardent  desire  for  truth  which  disarm  personal  feeling, 
even  where  the  opinions  advanced  are  most  distasteful, 
others  have  been  restrained  by  no  solf-distru&tful  humility, 
but  have  rivalled  Oscar  Schmidt,  who  supplies  a  genea- 
logical tree,  showing  the  descent  of  mankind  from  crea- 
tures on  the  level  of  the  Ornithorhynchus  of  Australia.^ 
In  the  same  way  some  have  hinted  rather  than  asserted 
the  immense  antiquity  of  mankind,  while  others  have 
dogmatised  on  the  subject  in  a  manner  that  is  almost 
amusing.  "Man,"  says  M.  Lalande,  "is  eternal."' 
**  The  Aryans,"  says  M.  Pi^trement,  "  had  tamed  the 
horse  and  used  it  habitually  at  an  epoch  anteiior  to  the 
year  19,337  before  the  Christian  era."^ 

This  vast  antiquity  has  been  claimed  for  our  race  on 
various  grounds ;  especially  that  of  geological  evidence. 
Two  hundred  thousand  years  are  assumed  by  some  as  the 
lowest  estimate  of  man's  appearance  in  Britain,  but  how 
much  earlier  he  had  existed  elsewhere,  before,  is  left  an 
open  question.*  A  chronology  has  been  invented,  from 
changes  of  climate  supposed  to  have  extended  through 
immense  periods,  and  the  traces  of  man  are  fitted  into 
its  spaces.  The  tools  found  have  been  classified,  to  mark 
successive  ages  of  vast  duration,  as  those,  respectively,  of 

'  Schmidt,  The  Doctrine  of  Descent  and  Dartymism,  p.  270.  The 
slightness  of  the  grounds  on  which  some  prevalent  geological 
theories  are  based,  through  the  tendency  of  average  scientific 
men  to  adopt  blindly  the  hints  of  superior  minds,  and  carry  them 
out  to  rash  lengths,  is  well  shown  in  an  able  book,  Scejpticism  in 
Geology.    (London  :  Murray,  1874.) 

-  Congres  Univ.,  1867,  Compte  Rendu,  p.  423.  • 

'  Les  Orighies  dtt  CJieval  domestique,  p.  280.  , 

*  Dr.  James  Geikie's  Great  Ice  Age,  p.  661. 


THl   ANTIQUITY    OF    MAN. 


133 


the  roagb  and  the  polished  stone,  the  bronze,  and  tlio 
iron  periods.  Tlio  supposed  evidence  of  deposits  in  caves, 
of  river  and  other  gnvvelH,  of  fen-beds,  of  goof^raphical 
changes,  of  the  presence  of  extinct  mammals  along  with 
human  remains,  are  pressed  into  the  service.  Hut  it 
staggers  our  faith  in  the  whole  chronological  scheme  to 
find,  at  the  outset,  that  while  one  high  authority  reckons 
the  boulder  clay  in  which  old  stone  implements  are 
foiind  as  marking  200,000  years,^  another,  no  less  emi- 
nent, sets  it  down  as  980,000  years  old.*  The  age  of 
Imman  implements  found  under  floors  of  stalagmite  in 
caves  is,  moreover,  open  to  equal  doubt,  since  observers 
dirt'er  greatly  as  to  the  rate  of  deposit  at  different  times  ;* 
for  while  Mr.  Pengelly  tells  us  that  it  takes  5,000  years 
to  create  an  inch  of  lime-dropping  on  the  floor  of  Kent's 
Cavern,*  others  assert  that,  elsewhere,  it  is  formed  at  the 
rate  of  the  third  of  an  inch  a  year,^  which  would  give  a 
foot  in  depth  in  little  more  than  a  century.  A  copper 
plate  of  the  twelfth  or  thirteenth  century,  we  are  told, 
was  found  in  a  cave  at  Gibraltar,  under  eighteen  inches 
of  stalagmite.^  At  Knaresboro',  objects  are  incrusted 
with  similar  calcareous  deposit  so  quickly,  that,  as  is 
well  known,  a  trade  in  them  is  briskly  kept  up.  In 
Italy,  the  waters  of  the  baths  of  San  Filippo  have  been 
known  to  deposit  a  solid  mass  of  it,  thirty  feet  thick,  in 
twenty  years.'  It  is  thus  clear  that  the  rate  of  deposit 
depends  on  circumstances.     One  condition  of  the  surface 

•  Geikie's  Great  Ice  Age,  pp.  629,  561. 

"  CroU'a  Climate  and  Time — On  Boulder  Clay  and  Till. 

•  Mr.  Ortllard,  in  Nature  (January,  1874). 

•  Manchester  Scientific  Lectures  (ISTS-i),  p.  130. 

•  Mr.  Boyd  Dawkiiis.  Athenceum  (April  12th,  1873). 

•  Sonthall's  Recent  Origin  of  Man,  p.  221. 
mid. 


t 


f 'H 


f     >:, 


Hi. 


134 


THE   ANTIQUITY  OF  MAN. 


may  yiipply  acids,  from  decaying  vegetation,  for  example, 
which  may  dissolve  the  limestone  much  faster  than 
another.  It  is  not,  therefore,  by  any  means  certain  that 
any  given  deposits,  in  a  special  case,  imply  even  an  ap- 
proach to  the  extreme  age  demanded  for  them. 

The  evidence  deduced  from  river  and  other  gravels 
and  drifts  is  no  less  unsatisfactory.^  It  is  indeed  quite 
impossible  to  fix  their  age  either  from  their  depth  or 
their  contents.  Mr.  Wood  found  the  road  leading  to  the 
Temple  of  Diana,  at  Ephesus,  more  than  four  yards  below 
the  present  surface,  and  he  obtained  remains  of  colossal 
sculptures,  at  the  Temple  itself,  from  a  depth  of  six  yards 
and  a  half.  Local  floods  work  great  changes,  and  it 
is  to  be  remembered  that  all  rivers  are  much  larger  in 
a  country  still  in  a  state  of  nature  than  when  human 
^^ettlement  has  in  groat  measure  drained  off  the  surface 
waters.  The  shifting  of  river  beds  themselves  works  great 
changes.  M.  De  Rossi  thinks  that  the  beds  of  drift  in 
the  course  of  the  Tiber  are^not  older  than  the  Roman 
Republic.  M.  Chabas,  in  a  close  examination  of  the 
tool-bearing  drifts  of  Northern  France,  found  that,  at  one 
part,  bits  of  Roman  pottery,  at  another,  u  copper  coin  of 
Charles  VIII.  of  France,  at  a  third,  pieces  of  yellow 
brick,  were  as  deep  in  the  soil  as  the  stone  axes,  etc., 
were  at  others,  and  finally  gave  up  the  hope  of  fiyi;jg 
the  age  of  any  thing  by  its  position.^ 

The  theory  of  widely  separate  ages  for  old  c*nd  new 
stone  tools,  and  for  bronze  and  iron,  is  one  of  those 
scientific  fancies  which  further  investigation  overthrows. 
To  use  the  words  of  the  Duke  of  Argyle  :^  "  There  is  no 
proof  whatever  that  such  ages  ever  existed  in  the  world." 
Kiitions  may  all  at  a  certain  time  have  used  stone  tools, 

*  Chii'oas,  Etudes  sur  V A.-itiquite  Uiatorique,  p.  562. 
»     ■  Ihid,  chap.  viii.  p.  519.        *  Primeval  Man,  p.  181. 


THE   ANTIQUITY   Of   MAN. 


135 


■*g 


I 


but  tlie  discovery  of  the  metals  must  have  been  made 
much  sooner  at  some  places  than  at  others.  Thus,  though 
Hiiifc  implements  have  been  found  in  abundance  in  South 
Africa,  iron  has  been  known  from  very  ancient  times  over 
a  large  portion  of  that  vast  continent ;  iron  o^o,  as  Sir 
Samuel  Baker  informs  us,  being  so  common  m  Africa, 
and  of  a  kind  so  easily  reducible  by  heat,  that  its  value 
might  vrell  be  discovered  by  the  rudest  tribes.  Stone, 
moreover,  is  rare  in  some  countries,  as,  for  example,  in 
Mesopotamia,  and  hence  it  is  not  surprising  to  find  that 
stone  implements  of  a  very  rude  character  coexisted  there 
with  an  advanced  civilization  in  agriculture  and  com- 
merce.i  Each  '^  age,"  in  fact,  runs  into  the  other,  and 
tools  of  all  the  four  kinds  were  used  in  not  a  few  localities 
at  the  same  time.  So  far  from  being  indefinitely  ancient, 
the  stone  age,  in  all  its  characteristics,  has  prevailed 
during  even  the  historical  period.  A  well-made  bronze 
pin  was  found  in  an  excavation  at  the  Isle  of  St.  Jean, 
near  Ma9on,  in  France,  which  till  then  had  yielded  only 
remains  of  the  polished  stone  period,  and  M.  Chabas 
found  iron  under  similar  circumstances  elsewhere.^  "  The 
age  of  bronze  must  bo  limited  more  and  more,"  says 
Professor  Desor.  "  Iron  is  found  throughout  it."  In 
Holland,  tumuli  known  as  Hunnebedden  (the  graves  of 
the  Hunni)  are  common.  Beneath  the  covering  of  soil 
are  found  rough  casings  of  unhewn  stone,  covering  cham- 
bers of  stone,  regularly  squared  and  smoothed,  with  a 
flooring  of  broken  granite.  Under  this,  funeral  urns  are 
met  with,  along  with  numerous  flint  tools  and  weapons, 
such  as  polished  hatchets,  chisels,  arrow-heads,  hammers, 
etc.  Some  of  these  are  rough,  that  is,  of  the  oldest 
*'age;"  others  are  partly  polished;  still  others,  polished 

*  Eawlinson's  Two  Great  Monarchies,  vol.  i.  pp.  119, 120. 
«  Etudes,  p.  622. 


Hi 


■ui^- 


m 


136 


THE   ANTIQUITT   OF  MAN. 


perfectly.  Alon^  with  these,  occur  samples  of  pottery 
oftpij  of  elegant  shapes,  and  finely  ornamented  by  means 
of  instruments  of  wood  or  bone.  Fifty  of  these  barrows 
have  been  opened,  without  finding  any  trace  of  metal  in 
them,  and  yet  scientific  men  are  of  opinion  that  they  are 
not  older  than  the  Rontan  period,  when  the  co.mtry 
began  to  rise  above  the  vast  floods,  which  till  then  had 
covered  it  nearly  every  year.  Holland  and  the  neigh- 
bouring Low  Countries  seem,  indeed,  to  have  been  formed 
from  the  vast  beds  of  soil  worn  off  the  Alps  and  other 
mountains,  by  the  glaciers  which  formerly  reached  to  the 
North  Sea,  but  have  now  retreated  to  Switzerland,  and 
from  deposits  by  the  waters  of  the  Rhine,  the  Meuse, 
the  Scheldt,  the  Ems,  and  the  Yssel.  At  first  only  the 
sandhills  n,nd  other  elevations^  natural  or  artificial,  v»  jre 
habitable,  and  these.,  in  CaBsar's  time,  were  still  so  many 
small  islands,  whose  savage  and  brave  inhabitants  were 
believed  to  live  on  fish  and  the  eggs  of  birds.^  About 
the  beginning  of  our  era,  the  Batavians  took  possession 
of  the  country,  but  the  Hunni  lingered  on  amongst 
them  even  during  the  Roman  period,  and  have  left  these 
tumuli,  apparently  remotely  prehistoric,  but,  in  fact,  to 
give  the  words  of  M.  Pleyte,  dating  from  the  commence- 
ment of  our  era  to  a.d.  500. 

The  Chevalier  de  Rossi  has  found  equally  soriking 
proofs  of  the  lateness  of  the  stone  age  in  Italy  .^  "  The 
whole  evidence,"  says  he,  "proves  to  demonstration  that 
the  new  stone  age  was  very  near  that  of  true  history." 
This  conclusion  is  confirmed  by  the  discoveries  so 
frequently  made,  and  every  day  becoming  more  numer- 
ous, of  stone  weapons  mixed  with  objects  of  bronze.    1 

*  CaBsar,  Bell.  Gall.,  iv. 

'"  Comptes  Bendus  du  Congres  International  d'Archceologie  Pre- 
historique  (1871),  p.  464. 


THl  ANTIQUITT   OF  MAN. 


137 


myself  have  found  early  uncoined  copper  money  {aes 
rude)  along  with  polished  stone  weapons ;  and  a  number 
of  flint  knives  hav j  been  obtained  from  Etruscan  graves. 
Indeed,  a  piece  of  coined  copper  money,  marking  a  still 
later  period,  has  been  found  in  an  Etruscan  tomb  along- 
side a  stone  knife,  undoubtedly  of  the  "new  stone 
period.*'  Not  less  striking  are  the  results  of  excavations 
on  the  sites  of  the  Roman-Gallic  cities  of  France.  Thus 
at  Bibracte,  the  largest,  richest,  and  most  important  town 
of  the  Edui,i  there  have  been  discovered,  after  scientific 
explorations,  remains  of  pottery,  jewellery,  enamel-work, 
work  in  metal  and  coins,  mingled  with  flint  arrow-heads, 
polished  stone  axes,  and  a  flint  knife.  The  same  results 
have  been  obtained  on  the  site  of  Gergovia,  near  Cler- 
mont ;  weapons,  vases  and  large  pins  of  bronze,  pieces  of 
jewellery  and  Gallic  coins  have  been  found  along  with 
stone  knives,  arrow-heads,  axes,  etc.*  Similar  stone 
weapons  and  tools  have  also  been  met  with  on  the  site 
of  Alesia,  in  the  Jura,  with  the  skeletons  of  Gauls,  their 
personal  ornaments,  and  weapons  of  bronze  and  iron, 
and  even  the  ^^emains  of  their  armour. 

The  lateness  of  the  stone  period  has  received  further 
illustration  by  the  discovery  that  the  ancient  Egyptians, 
though  already  possessing  and  using  all  the  metals,  and 
enjoying  a  high  civilization,  systematically  used  stone 
tools  for  mining  and  other  purposes.  Brugsch  found  them 
along  with  remains  of  ancient  pottery  at  the  turquoise 
mines  of  Midian.^  They  are  met  with,  moreover,  so 
widely,  and  under  such  circumstances,  through  all  Egypt, 
that  it  appeal's  as  if  they  continued  to  be  used  freely  in 
common  life.*     M.  Mariette  found  in  the  tombs  of  the 

*  Caesar,  BelL  Oall.,  i.  and  vii.  ^  Chabas,  Etudes,  p.  64«i, 

•  Bnigsoli,  Wanderungen  nach^  den  Turqis  Minen,  p.  71. 

♦  Cbabas,  Etudes,  p.  377. 


L^M 


\]S 


THE   ANTIQUITT   OF   MAN. 


ancient  Egyptian  empire  at  Saqqara,  and  at  tlie  pyra- 
mids, bas-reliefs  showing  workmen  cutting  wood  with  a 
tool  exactly  resembling  the  stone  axes  of  the  Polynesian 
Archipelago.  There  is  a  stone  knife  in  the  British 
Museum  bearing  an  inscription  which  shows  that 
it  is  not  older  than  the  sixth  century  before  Christ ; 
another,  at  Athens,  has  a  Greek  inscription ;  while  a 
third,  at  Copenhagen,  'has  one  in  Runic  characters. 
There  is,  indeed,  no  distinctively  stone  age  in  Egypt, 
but  stone  tools  are  found  abundantly  along  with  those  of 
iron  and  other  metals,  as  if  the  Egyptians  used  them 
for  ma.  y  of  the  same  purposes,  and  with  almost  equal 
commonness,  as  the  barbarous  peoples  round,  who  did 
not  know  the  metals,  or  were  unable  to  procure  them. 
Mr.  Keast  Lord^  found  in  his  minute  explorations  of 
the  mines  of  Midiau,  that  the  veins  of  metal  had  been 
worked  by  stone  tools  exclusively,  many  of  which  he 
brought  away  with  him;  and  he  mentions,  also,  that 
owing  to  geological  changes,  the  lakes  from  which  the 
miners  obtained  water  for  drinking,  and  for  their  opera- 
tions, are  now  gone,  though  the  shells  of  the  fresh-water 
mussel,  used  for  food  by  the  miners,  still  remain  in  the 
old  lake  beds.  Their  huts,  moreover,  of  rough  dry  stone, 
without  mortar,  and  in  everything  bearing  proofs  of  the 
highest  antiquity,  are  still  standing.  Yet  the  inscriptions 
show  incontestably  that  these  workings,  and  the  lakes 
themselves,  date  from  within  the  strictly  historical  period, 
and  even  so  late  as  the  twelfth  century  before  Christ. 
But  for  these  inscriptions,  however,  how  certainly  would 
the  mines  have  been  referred  to  an  unknown  antiquity, 
accompanied  as  they  are  by  the  fact  of  the  vanished 
lakes  and  the  archaic  huts  ?  But  it  cannot  be  said  that 
the  stone  period  is  even  yet  a  matter  of  the  past,  for  M. 
»  Leisure  Hour  (1870),  pp.  423  ff. 


■~sr=j^— . 


V^ 


THE  ANTIQUITT  OF  l^AK. 


W9 


Mariette,  having  noticed  his  Arab  labourers  shaving  thfir 
heads  with  razors  of  flint,  and  the  Arabs  of  Qournah 
having  showed  hira  Bedouin  lances  tipped  with  flint, 
justly  says,  that  "  he  fancied  himself  transported  to  the 
stone  periodj  and  arrived  at  the  conclusion  that  the  age 
of  stone  survived  in  Egypt  under  the  Pharaohs,  the 
Greeks,  the  Romans,  and  the  Arabs,  and  finally  that  it 
still,  in  a  certain  measure,  survives  in  our  own  day."^ 

Extreme  antiquity  has  been  claimed  for  man  on  the 
additional  ground  of  the  presence,  with  stone  tool?  and 
weapons,  of  the  bones  of  quadrupeds  no  longer  found  in 
the  same  latitudes.  But  who  can  tell  the  age  of  these 
bones  ?  Parts  of  the  mammoth,  the  cave  bear,  and  the 
reindeer  have  been  found  at  a  depth  of  two  feet  under 
thd  siirfjice  in  the  caves  of  Rully  de  Germolles ;  and  a 
human  jaw,  a  mammoth's  tooth,  and  a  fine  flint  arrow 
have  been  found  at  +he  depth  of  thirty-two  inches.  Nor 
is  it  easy  to  judge  of  the  time  required  for  the  disappear- 
ance of  animals  from  a  country.  Within  the  historical 
period,  the  lion,  the  aurochs,  and  the  bear  abounded  in 
Macedonia,  and  the  boa  in  Calabria.  The  hippopotamus, 
which  was  hunted  in  Lower  Egypt  by  the  ancient 
Egyptians  and  still  lived  in.  the  Damietta  mouth  of  the 
Nile  in  the  time  of  the  Caliphs,  is  now  never  seen  farther 
north  than  19° — that  is,  eight  degrees  farther  south. 
The  crocodile  frequented  the  Delta  3,000  years  ago;  now, 
it  never  comes  north  of  27°,  and  is  steadily  going  south. 
The  reindeer  seems,  from  a  passage  in  Caesar,  to  have 
still  lived  in  Gaul  in  his  days,  for  he  speaks  of  "  an  ox  of 
the  shape  of  a  deer,  from  whose  head,  between  its  ears,  a 
horn  rises  higher  and  less  straight  than  the  horns  known 
to  us.  From  its  top  (that  is,  from  the  top  of  this  common 
base)  branches  spread  out  widely,  like  palms.     Both  male 

*  Ghabas,  Etudes,  p.  396.    Dawson's  Fossil  Man,  pp.  205  £P. 


{\ 


Mi 


140 


THE   ANTIQUITY  OF   MAN. 


and  femalo  have  the  sarao  shape  and  extent  of  horns."  * 
The  similarity  of  the  head  of  a  reindeer  to  that  of  the 
ox  is  well  known,  and  the  fact  of  male  and  female  having 
similar  herns  is  peculiar  to  it.  It  still  lives  in  Asia  even 
lower  than  50°,  and  in  America  to  46°,  which  is  fully  2° 
farther  south  than  the  latitude  of  Paris,  and  nearly  on  a 
lino  with  Geneva,  and  with  Odessa,  in  southern  Russia. 

The  fact  of  great  changes  of  climate  in  our  Northern 
hemisphere  at  widely  separate  periods  is  a  geological  fact 
which  none  affect  to  dispute,  but  there  is  a  wide  differ- 
ence of  opinion  as  to  the  frequency  of  these  changes  or 
their  cause.  "In  the  tertiary  epoch,"  says  Heer, ''a 
distribution  of  heat  is  discernible  in  zones,  but  the  de- 
crease of  heat  towards  the  poles  was  much  less  marked 
than  at  present.  Whilst  the  tropical  zone  was  probably 
little  warmer  than  in  our  own  day.  Central  Europe 
during  the  lower  Miocene  period  had  a  climate  nearly 
equivalant  to  that  of  the  Southern  United  States,  or  that 
of  North  Africa.  Under  the  Arctic  zone,  in  lat.  78°  N., 
the  island  of  Spitzbergen  was  covered  with  forests 
of  swamp-cypress,  sequoia,^  many  kinds  of  pines,  plane- 
trees,  walnuts,  oaks,  and  lime-trees — ^a  fact  which  justifies 
the  belief  that  vegetation  reached  to  the  pole  itself,  if 
the  land  extended  to  it.  Since  then  the  heat  has  been 
diminishing.  During  the  earliest  glacial  period  it  sank 
several  degrees  below  the  present  mean  aniiual  tempera- 
ture, and  continued  so  for  thousands  of  years.  Then  it 
rose  again,  and  the  Swiss  lignite  beds  were  formed,  the 
forest  bed  of  the  coast  of  Norfolk,  and  the  elephant  and 
rhinoceros  inhabited  these  regions.  It  then  fell  once 
more,  and  a  second  glacial  period  began.  Then  it  rose 
again,  and  has  continued  unchanged  ever  since."  The 
cause  oi'  the  greater  heat  of  the  Miocene  period  Heer 

*  C89sar,  Bell.  Gall.f  vi.  24.       '  Our  Wellingtonia  gigcmtea. 


■HB  ANi'IQUITT   OF  MAN. 


Ill 


til  inks  may  have  been  from  the  sun  traversing  a  warmer 
region  of  space  than  it  moves  in  now — all  regions  sharing 
in  the  greater  warmth.*  Dr.  Blandet  supposes  that  the 
sun  was  originally  much  larger  than  it  is — the  planets 
having  been  thrown  off  from  it  in  its  revolution. 

The  higher  temperature  of  the  Northern  Pole  as  com- 
pared with  the  Southern  is  supposed  by  Heer  to  rise 
from  the  distribution  of  land  round  the  two — the  southern 
having  almost  none.  Dr.  Croll,  a  scientific  man  of  high 
eminence,  on  the  other  hand,  fancies  it  rises  from  t'le 
varying  inclination  of  the  earth's  axis,  which,  he  believes, 
causes  the  relative  position  of  the  two  poles  towards 
the  sun  to  be  periodically  reversed  at  distant  periods. 

According  to  that  writer  and  Dr.  James  Geikie,  "  the 
seasons  in  the  two  hemispheres  are  reversed  every  10,500 
years,''  during  certain  '*  periods  of  high  ellipticity  of  the 
earth's  orbit."  The  last  of  these  periods  we  are  told 
'*  began  some  200,000  years  ago,  and  terminated  about 
80,000  years  ago — embracing  a  period  of  160,000  years." 
During  this  immense  cycle,  therefore,  there  must  have 
been  not  two  glacial  periods,  as  Heer  imagines,  in  re- 
erence  to  the  ages  since  the  Miocene,  but  fifteen  changes 
of  climate  within  160,000  years;  each  change  reversing 
the  seasons  in  the  two  hemispheres — the  pole  which  had 
"enjoyed  continuous  summer"  being  "doomed  to 
undergo  perpetual  winter "  for  10,500  years,  and  then 
passing  to  its  former  state  for  an  equal  term  :  oscillating, 
in  fact,  between  heat  and  Arctic  cold  it  these  intervals  for 
the  160,000  years.  Man,  it  is  aflfirmea,  inhabited  Western 
Europe,  at  least  in  the  warm  periods,  from  the  beginning 
of  the  200,000  years.     But  a  theory,  however  acute,^  is  a 

*  Heer's  Primeval  World  of  Switzerland,  vol.  ii.  p.  270. 

*  I  would  here  express  my  high  sense  of  the  ability,  learning, 
and  desire  lor  truth  alone,  of  both  Dr.  Croll  and  my  ho^.oured 
relative  Dr.  Junics  (jeikie,ihuufih  I  am  forced  to  differ  from  them. 


142 


THE   ANTIQUITY   OV   MAN. 


dangerous  toy,  when  the  facts  by  which  it  seeks  its  justifi 
cation  are  interpreted  in  opposite  ways  by  equally  learned 
men.  The  approximate  dates  of  the  glacial  periods  ai'o 
matters  of  keen  dispute,  nor  can  we  accept  imaginary 
chronology,  however  famous  its  author.  It  is  simply  a 
guess,  aDd  carries  no  authority  whatever.  Moreover,  the- 
dates  of  these  periods  have  no  necessary  connection  with 
the  antiquity  of  man,  for  the  proof  of  human  remains  or  im- 
plements being  found  in  glacial  drifts  are  sadly  defective, 
and  in  any  case  their  mere  accidental  proximity  to  traces 
of  glacial  action  could  in  no  degree  prove  that  both  have 
a  common  age.  If  so,,  l?,oman  remains  found  in  a  glacial 
drift  may  settle  the  Koman  period  as  a  million  years  ago. 
The  character  of  the  animals,  now  ei.t;inot  in  the  coun- 
tries where  their  remains  are  found  in  connection  with 
those  of  man,  has  been  held  to  prove  the  lapse  of  vast 
periods,  for  some  now  represent  a  tropical,  while  others 
are  found  only  in  an  Arctic  climate.  It  is  arguing  un- 
safely, however,  to  say  that,  because  the  rhinoceros,  for 
example,  is  now  found  only  in  the  tropics,  it  never  lived 
in  colder  latitudes.  The  body  of  one  "  still  retaining  its 
corpulency,'^  its  skin,  its  tendons,  and  some  of  its  flesh, 
was  discovered  in  1 771,  in  Siberia,  on  the  banks  of  the 
Wilaji  river,  a  tributary  of  the  Lena,  at  the  latitude  of 
about  65°  north, — that  is,  on  a  line  with  the  middle  of 
Iceland.  It  was  particularly  noticed  that  it  was  covered 
with  hair,  to  enable  it  to  withstand  ^^he  cold  :  r  pecu- 
liarity which  existed  in  the  mammoth  also,  with  the  same 
object.^  That  huge  animik  like  these  could  find  subsist- 
ence in  latitudes  so  high  involves  no  difficulty,  for  hardy 


*  A  mammoth  found  in  Siberi?.,  in  1804,  had  very  close  sefc  red 
wool  an  inch  and  a  half  long  over  its  ;3kin,  with  black  hair  rising 
above  it— an  Arctic  covering,  in  fact. 


THE    ANTIQUITY   OF   MAN. 


143 


11 


trees  and  shrubs  still  grow  far  north,  in  Siberia,  and  there- 
fore, to  use  Prof.  Owen's  words,  "  we  may  safely  infer  that 
the  mammoth  would  have  found  the  requisite  means  of 
subsistence,  from  the  twigs  and  branches,  at  the  present 
day,  and  at  all  seasons,  in  the  sixtieth  parallel  of  latitude ; 
and  relying  on  the  body  of  evidence  adduced  by  Sir 
Charles  Lyell,  in  proof  of  increased  severity  in  the 
climate  of  the  northern  hemisphere,  we  may  assume  that 
the  mammoth  habitually  frequented  still  higher  latitudes 
at  the  period  of  its  actual  existence.  It  has  been  sug- 
gested that  as  in  our  own  times  the  northern  animals 
migrate,  so  the  Siberian  rhinoceros  and  elephant  may 
have  wandered  towards  the  north  in  summer.  TLj  hairy 
covering  of  the  mammoth  concurs  with  the  localities  of 
its  most  abundant  remains,  in  showing  that,  like  the 
reindeer,  the  northern  ext^^eme  of  the  temperate  zone  was 
its  metropolis/'^ 

Strange  to  say,  the  wider  range  of  the  elephant — of 
which  the  mammoth  is  a  species — in  antiquity,  is  illus- 
trated by  the  hieroglyphics  of  Egypt  and  the  cuneiform 
inscriptions  of  Assyria,  for  the  former  commemorate  the 
killing  of  120  in  the  chase,  in  Northern  Syria,  by 
Thothmes  III.  in  the  seventeenth  eentury  before  Christ,* 
and  the  latter  speaks  of  them  as  hunted  in  Mesopo- 
tamia five  centuries  later.^ 

Thus  it  is  clear  that  the  presence  in  northern  countries 
of  animals  now  only  found  in  warm  climates,  or  the  dis- 
appearance of  others  from  a  given  region,  is  no  proof 
whatever  of  the  lapse  of  very  great  periods  of  time. 

*  Prof.  Owen,  quoted  in  art.  Elephant,  English  Cyclop. 

'  Brugsch's  Egypt,  vol.  i.  p.  358.  Maspero's  Histoire  Ancienne, 
p.  205.  ^  Chabas,  Etudes,  p.  579.  The  Bengal  tiger  abounds 
in  lat.  48^.  to  which  the  polar  tailless  hare  sometimes  wandera 
Antiq,  of  Man,  p.  158. 


144 


THE  ANTIQUITY   OF  MAN. 


V  • 


ti 


The  comparatively  modern  date  of  the  stone  ago  throws 
a  reflected  light  on  the  time  when  the  reindeer,  elephant, 
great  bear,  etc.,  lived  in  North- vvcstern  Europe,  for  stone 
tools,  as  well  cut  as  those  of  the  *'  new  stone  period," 
have  been  found  anionj;^  their  remains,  some  of  which 
still  exhibit  spirited  sketches  of  the  reindeer,  mammoth, 
etc.,  graved  on  them  by  some  sharp  instrument.  The 
theory  of  a  vast  interval  between  the  rough  and  the 
polished  stone  eras,  or  between  them  and  that  of  bronze 
and  iron,  will  not,  in  fact,  stand  examination,  for  they  are 
often  found  together  and  continually  occur  under  circum- 
stances which  decide  their  comparatively  recent  origin ; 
and  the  supposition  that  the  period  of  the  mammoth, 
reindeer,  rhinoceros,  etc.,  necessarily  mark  equally  vast 
and  remote  intervals  cannot  be  maintained. 

One  point  appears  to  have  been  strangely  overlooked 
by  the  advocates  for  the  immense  antiquity  of  man — that 
geological  changes  are  and  have  been  continually  going 
on.  The  geological  period  in  fact  dates  from  this  moment 
back.  The  land  in  the  Gulf  of  Bothnia  rises  at  the  rate 
of  thirty-nine  inches  in  a  century,  which  in  3,000  years 
would  give  an  elevation  above  its  former  level  at  that 
date,  of  over  thirty-seven  feet.  But  such  a  depression 
would  turn  Russia,  from  St.  Petersburg  to  Sebastopol,  into 
a  great  lake,  with  who  can  tell  what  effect  in  modifying 
the  climate  ?  No  one  can  say  that  such  a  steady  eleva- 
tion has  not  been  the  gradual  creation  of  Russia,  within  a 
comparatively  recent  period,  by  slowly  draining  off  the 
waters  of  some  ancieut  Scythian  ocean— the  sea,  per- 
haps, beyond  which  the  Hyperboreans  were  anciently 
thought  to  live. 

'  Prof.  Green  says  from  two  to  three  feet  in  a  century. 
Geology,  p.  337.  Prof.  Jukes  says  that  about  the  North  Cape  the 
land  rises  five  or  six  feet  in  a  century.    Ma/nual  of  Geology ,  p.  52. 


THK    ANTIQUITY   OF   MAN. 


11.5 


A  riso  of  two  hundred  and  twenty  feet  in  the  voh'Mtiio 
rojiion  of  the  Bospliorus  would  effect  equfilly  start! in j^ 
results,  for  it  needs  no  more  than  that  to  spread  an  inl.iud 
fresh-water  ocean  from  the  plains  of  the  Lower  Danube 
and  Southern  Russia,  over  the  areas  of  the  Black,  t  he 
Caspian,  and  the  Aral  Seas,  with  their  neighbouriufj 
steppes,  far  and  near — to  create,  in  fact,  a  second  Mediter- 
ranean.^ With  the  surface  of  the  earth  rising  and  sink- 
ing by  steady  oscillation  in  so  many  regions  even  now, 
who  can  say  that  the  tradition  is  wrong  which  ascribes 
the  d^ginage  of  this  vast  region  to  a  volcanic  commotion 
rending  open  the  Bosphorus  about  1,500  years  before 
Christ,  and  causing  the  terrible  catastrophe  which  anti- 
quity handed  down  in  the  legend  of  Deucalion's  flood— 
the  flood,  it  may  be,  of  Genesis  ? 

Nor  is  this  great  geological  change  alone  in  the  recent 
history  of  our  globe.  Dr.  Hecker,  of  Berlin,  notices  the 
fact  that  in  the  terrible  paroxysms  of  nature  which  ac- 
companied or  preceded  the  Black  Death,  in  the  fourtet  nth 
century — the  most  awful  mortality  that  ever  attaclced 
mankind — huge  icebergs  were  formed  on  the  east  coast  of 
Greenland,  then  inhabited  by  Northmen  from  Deumirk 
and  Iceland,  and  that  since  then  neither  the  land  nor 
its  people  have  ever  been  seen.^  The  Gv>rman  Arctic 
Expedition  of  1869-70,  indeed,  by  the  utmost  efibrts 
caught  glimpses  of  the  land,  but  their  vessel  was  presently 
destroyed,  and  the  crew  saved  only  by  drifting  southwards 
on  an  icefloe  for  eight  months  together.^  For  twenty- 
six  years  before  the  Black  Death,  physical  convulsions 
shook  the  surface  of  the  earth  in  uninterrupted  succes- 
sion.   Vast  river  districts  were  converted  into  swamps ;  a 

*  Wood's  Shores  of  Lake  Aral,  p.  117. 

*  Hecker's  Epidemics  of  the  Middle  Ages,  p.  28. 

*  The  German  Arctic  Exjpedition  (London,  1874},  passim. 
VOL.  1.  I 


il 


ril 


i       I 


un 


TITK    ANTIQITITY   OF   MAN. 


lake  of  more  than  100  leagues  in  circumference  was  formed 
in  China,  by  the  diHappearance  of  a  whole  chain  of  moun- 
tains; in  thousands  of  plucos  chasms  opened;  springs  burst 
out  on  the  tops  of  hills,  and  dry  tracts  were  laid  under 
water  in  an  inexplicable  way.^  Calamities  and  pheno- 
mena, in  fact,  which  usually  come  singly,  at  distinct  in- 
tervals, were  crowded  together,  as  no  experience  could 
have  imagined  possible. 

We  believe,  then,  to  quote  the  words  of  a  most  intel- 
ligent and  well-informed  writer,  that  "  in  the  present 
state  of  our  knowledge,  attempts  to  estimate  the  age  of 
the  human  race  are  premature,  and  that  all  statements 
which  assign  from  6,000  to  250,000  or  more  years,  as  the 
time  which  has  elapsed  since  certain  individuals  ceased  to 
exist,  require  revisal.  On  the  whole,  it  appears  probable 
that  man  existed  with  many  of  the  extinct  mammalia 
with  whose  remains  his  own  are  associated;  but,  not- 
withstanding all  that  has  been  said  or  written,  we  do  not 
know  even  one  fact  which  thoroughly  establishes  this 
point.  ...  It  is  possible  they  may  have  existed 
ages  before.''  * 

On  every  ground  science  may,  thus,  well  be  diffident  in 
reasoning  on  the  past  from  the  present,  or  in  constructing 
a  chronology  of  ages  for  the  existence  of  man,  when  each 
footstep  of  it  is  open  to  the  gravest  challenge. 

'  EecJcer,  pp.  8, 14. 

'  Art.  Man.  Supplement  to  English  Encyclopoedia, 


N-> 


f  f 


CHAPTER  X. 


ANTIQUITY   AND   ORIGIN   OF  MAN. 

IN  the  last  century  the  advocates  of  the  extreme  an- 
tiquity of  the  human  race  based  their  speculations 
on  the  highly  scienti6o  grounds  of  such  astronomical 
evidence  as  they  believed  to  be  supplied  by  the  Egyptian 
zodiacs,  the  inclination  of  the  earth's  pole,  the  position 
of  the  constellations,  and  the  Hke.  Thus  Dupuis,  the 
author  of  the  once  celebrated  book  "  L'Origino  de  tons 
les  Oultes," — The  Origin  of  all  Religions, — expresses  his 
astonishment  in  finding  his  ideas  exactly  supported  by 
the  ancient  zodiacs.  But  he  was  moderate,  in  his  own 
opinion.  *'  It  is  not  necessary  to  place  back  further 
than  14,000  or  15,000  years  the  invention,  not  indeed  of 
astronomy,  but  of  the  hieroglyphic  figures  of  the  zodiac 
which  the  Greeks  received  from  the  Egyptians  and  the 
Chaldeans."  Proud  of  his  discoveries,  he  adds,  "  Thus  I 
have  cast  the  anchor  of  truth  into  the  midst  of  the  oc-rn 
of  ages." 

But  he  had  cast  his  anchor  into  the  midst  of  an  ocean 
of  error  instead  of  in*^o  that  of  truth,  for  at  the  very  time 
when  his  book  was  published,  a  child,  the  future  Cham- 
poUion,  was  bom  at  Figeac,  who,  thirty  years  later,  dis- 
covered the  secret  of  hieroglyphics.  The  Egyptian 
zodiacs  "ere  then  found  to  date  only  from  the  Eonian 
period,  and  Dupuis'  theory  was  proved  a  mere  dream. 

147 


•H 


it 


h 


i 


''I  f 

1 1 

Hi 


I 


148 


ANTIQUITY   AND   ORIGIN   OF  MAN. 


It  is  necessary,  indeed,  at  all  times,  alike  for  men  of 
science,  and  for  the  public  who  listen  to  them,  to  be 
cautious.  Like  all  the  world  besides,  scientists  are,  as 
a  rule,  disciples  rather  than  masters,  and  confidently 
repeat  the  theories  of  a  few  men  of  original  ideas,  with 
a  mechanical  submission  which  makes  no  effort  to  winnow 
the  truth  in  them,  from  its  inevitable  mixture  of  errors. 
Thus  Huttoi  suggested,  that  the  same  causes  as  are  at 
work  at  present  in  nature,  are  to  be  regarded  as  the 
sufficient  factors  in  all  the  geological  phenomena  of  the 
past.  Sir  Charles  Lyell  adopted  this  view,  and  supported 
it  with  such,  fulness  of  illustration  that  it  became  the 
accepted  basis  of  modern  geology.  But  not  contented 
with  recognising  a  great  truth  in  it,  subject  to  modifica- 
tion more  or  less  frequently,  under  the  different  con- 
ditions of  the  development  of  the  crust  of  the  globe,  his 
followers  have  repeated  his  ideas  with  a  docile  literality, 
from  which  independent  thought  was  conspicuously  want- 
ing. It  is  refreshing,  therefore,  to  find  a  man  like  Pro- 
fessor Green,  of  Leeds,  cf  enough  original  force  of  mind 
to  break  at  last  the  spell  under  which  speculative  geology 
has  lain  too  long,  by  questioning  whether,  after  all,  the 
physical  phenomena  of  the  past  were  always  as  gentle 
and  unmarked  as  at  present;  whether,  in  fact,  the  de- 
mand for  an  indefinite  lapse  of  time  for  the  phenomena 
of  the  earth's  crust  can  be  justified.  The  extreme  views 
hitherto  in  vogue  are  thus  challenged  in  their  turn,  and 
we  are  asked  to  believe  the  much  more  rational  theory, 
that  while  the  present  natural  causes  were  demonstrably 
main  factors  in  the  development  of  the  earth's  crust, 
others,  of  indefinitely  greater  force  and  rapidity  of  action, 
from  time  to  time  burst  iuto  play.^ 

In  the  same  way,  the  pre-glacial  man  of  Mr.  Boyd 
-      *  Green's  Geology,  p.  622. 


ANTIQUITY   AND  OBIGIN  OF   MAN. 


149 


Dawkins,!  and  the  theories  of  Dr.  CroU,  are  infallibly 
destined  to  find  themselves  superseded,  after  a  time, 
when  some  fresh  and  powerful  brain  marks  a  new  de- 
parture in  scientific  leadership. 

The  extreme  antiquity  of  man  has  been  maintained  on 
the  ground  of  the  extreme  antiquity  of  extinct  or  existing 
civiliziitions,  but,  as  it  seems,  on  inadequate  grounds. 
Chinese  chronology  was  fancied,  at  one  time,  to  run 
back  authentically  to  periods  astoundingly  remote,  but  a 
better  knowledge  of  the  subject  has  latterly  shown  that 
the  historical  period  in  China  does  not  reach  farther  from 
us  at  most  than  2200  years  before  Christ.^  Dr.  Edkins, 
indeed,  would  limit  it  to  B.C.  781,  or  at  most  to  B.C.  1154.^ 
India  was  supposed  at  one  time  to  boast  of  a  history  whose 
shadowy  periods  triumphantly  disproved  the  Scripture 
teaching  of  the  lateness  of  man's  creation.  But  science 
now  grants  that  the  earliest  Indian  event  it  can  trace 
is  the  descent  of  the  Aryan  tribes  from  the  tablelands  of 
Asia  to  the  plains  of  Hindustan,  "perhaps  about  the 
year  B.C.  2000."  * 

Failing  in  the  case  of  China  and  India,  Egypt  seemed 
next  to  ofi'er  itself  as  a  country  of  immemorial  antiquity. 
Boeckh,^  a  distinguished  German  scholar,  set  down  the 
date  of  the  reign  of  Menes,  who  is  universally  accepted 
as  the  first  king  of  Egypt,  at  5702  years  before  Christ, 
linger,^  another  great  German  scholar,  preferred  the  year 
5613.  Marietto  Bey,  the  learned  French  Director  of  the 
Antiquprian  Museum  at  Caivof  strikes  off  the  odd  cen- 


^  Cave  Hunting,  by  Boyd  Dawkins,  passim. 

'  Brockhaus'  Conversations  Lex.  (xii.  Auf.),  vol.  iv.  p.  611. 

•  Leisure  Hour  (1876),  p.  053. 

•  Brockhaus'  Conversations  Lex.  (xii.  Auf.),  vol,  xi.  p.  325. 

•  Born  1785,  died  1867. 

•  Born  1800,  died  1870. 


I 


; 
if 


!       "1 


hi 


160 


ANTTQUirr  AND   ORIGIN   Of  MAN. 


turies,  and  fixes  Menes  at  5004  years  before  Christ,  ia 
which  he  is  followed  bv  Lenormant,*  his  most  distin- 
guishcd  disciple.  Professor  Maspero,  of  Paris,  thinks  the 
year  4500  about  the  proper  date.  Brugsch  Bey,  a  Ger- 
man long  resident  in  Egypt,  and  the  author  of  a  learned 
"History  of  Egypt  derived  entirely  from  the  Monu- 
ments," *  has  chosen  the  year  4455.  Lepsius  *  and 
Ebers,  master  and  disciple,.*  but  both  deservedly  famous 
as  Egyptologists,  think  that  Menes  reigned  3892  years 
before  Christ.  The  Chevalier  Bunsen  ^  at  first  assigned 
the  year  3623  to  him,  but  at  a  later  time  thought  the 
year  3059  more  correct.  Our  own  Dr.  Birch,®  the  head 
of  the  Egyptian  Department  in  the  British  Museum,  and 
of  merited  fame  in  his  special  studies,  decides  for  *'  about 
the  year  before  Christ  3000."  Mr.  Eeginald  Stuart 
Poole,''  head  of  the  Numismatic  Department  in  tho 
British  Museum,  and  devoted  to  Egyptian  '  studies, 
thinks  tho  proper  date  the  year  2717 ;  while  the  late  Sir  G. 
"Wilkinson,*  ^-^hoso  great  book  on  the  Ancient  Egyptians 
entitles  him  to  the  highest  consideration,  agreeing  in 
the  main  with  Mr.  Poole,  ascribe  the  accession  of  Menes 
to  the  year  before  Christ  2691. 

Between  the  highest  and  the  lowest  of  these  calcula- 
tions there  is  a  difference  of  no  less  than  301 1  years,  and 
yet  they  are  all  the  estimates  of  distinguished  men.  Tho 
result  involved  in  such  a  variation  ia  the  same  as   if 

'  Manuel  de  VHistoire  Ancienne,  p.  321. 

^  All  Euglish  translation  has  just  been  published  in  two  vols.| 
1879. 
"'  In  his  'Ghronolorfie  der  Egypten  (1849). 

•  Elne  JEgn'pt'sclie  Kuuigstochter,  vol.  i.  p.  211. 

•  Egypt's  Place  in  Universal  History,  vol.  v.  p.  63. 

•  Egnptfromtlie  Earliest  Times,  p.  23.  v 
'  Dictionary  of  the  Bible,  vol.  i.  p.  508. 

•  Rawlinsou's  Uerodotns,  vol.  ii.  p.  287. 


ANTIQUITY   AND    ORIGIN   OF   MAN. 


151 


some  future  bistorian  were  to  date  the  reign  of  our  pre- 
sent queen  from  the  year  1837,  while  another  maintained 
that  her  proper  place  was  in  the  days  of  Moses.  Let  ua 
see  how  is  it  that  eminent  Egyptologists  differ  so  much. 

The  only  authority  for  Egyptian  chronology,  till  re- 
cently, was  the  lists  of  kings  quoted  by  various  ancient 
writers  from  the  lost  book  of  Manetho,  an  Egyptian  priest 
of  the  third  century  before  Christ.  But  his  figures  have 
been  a  constant  perplexity  to  students,  since  he  follows 
the  Egyptian  cu&tom  of  counting  all  the  years  of  kings 
who  reigned  more  or  less  together,  as  when  a  son  was 
crowned  during  his  father's  life.^  No  wonder  that 
Brugsch  should  say  that  this  source  of  error  alone 
"places  such  doubts  and  difficulties  in  the  way,  as  to 
make  one  despair  in  putting  together  a  chronological 
table  of  the  old  Egyptian  empire."  * 

To^dd  to  this  hopelessness,  the  Egyptians  themselves 
had  no  conception  of  chronology,^  and  give  us  no  dates 
from  which  to  reckon.  Manetho*8  figures,  moreover, 
"easily  lead  themselves  to  all  the  chronological  sys- 
tems ;***  while  the  only  corroborative  list  of  royal  names, — 
that  of  a  document  found  at  Abydos,  and  known  as  the 
Turin  papyrus, — is  so  mutih  ted  that  it  aflfords  very  im- 
perfect aid  in  oliecking  Manetho's  lists.  Still  more,  "  the 
monuments  are  beginning  more  and  more  to  discredit  his 
numbers,"  so  that  "  unless  we  choose,  without  any  war- 

'  Briigach,  History  of  Egypt,  vol.  i  p.  120. 
«  Ibid,  p.  120. 

•  "  The  greatest  hindrance  to  a  regular  Egyptian  chronology 
is  the  circumstance  that  the  Et^yptians  themsclvoa  never  had  any 
chronology  at  all." — Lenormant,  vol.  i.  p.  322. 

"  Everything  Btill  remains  to  be  done  in  this  province  (that  of 
chronology)  so  far  as  relates  to  the  time  preceding  the  XXVI. 
Dynasty  (that  is  to  the  year  B.C.  QQQ)." — Urugsch,  vol.  i.  p.  xviii. 

*  Brugsch,  vol.  i.  p.  183. 


m 


I 


i 

m 


152 


ANTIQUITT  AND  ORIGIN  OF  MAN. 


I  ! 


rant,  to  strain  his  indefinitely  elastic  lists  at  our  pleasure, 
there  remains  no  other  course  than  to  wait  till  some 
fort nc ate  discovery  relieves  us  from  this  dangerous  ex 
perijnent/'^  Brugsch  bases  his  figures  on  the  estimate 
that  three  reigns  were  exactly  equal  to  a  hundred  years,' 
while  Canon  Rawlinson  tells  us  that  twenty  years  is  the 
real  average  duration  of  the  reign  of  Eastern  kings/  and 
as  if  this  were  not  enough  to  discredit  extreme  con- 
clusions, no  one  knows  what  kings  reigned  together  or 
when  each  began  to  reign  singly. 

The  high  antiquity  of  Egyptian  civilization  was  at  one 
time  thought  to  be  proved  by  relics  obtained  by  Mr. 
Horner  from  borings  ia  the  mud  of  the  Delta,  and 
indeed  Ebers  quotes  them  even  now  in  support  of  it.* 
That  a  piece  of  pottery  had  been  found  at  the  depth  of 
39  feet  was  taken  as  proof  its  having  been  buried  for 
13,000  years.  ^  Sir  J.  Lubbock  and  Sir  C.  Ly^U,  ac- 
cepting this  conclusion,  came  to  wonderful  conclusions; 
for  their  estimates,  with  those  of  various  papers  read  be- 
fore learned  societies,  are  that  bricks  and  pottery  in  Egypt 
date  from  12,000  to  60,000  years  back.  Unfortunately 
for  all  this  fine  speculation,  Sir  Robert  Stephenson  found 
in  the  Delta,  near  Damietta,  at  a  greater  depth  than  Mr. 
Horner  ever  reached,  a  brick  bearing  on  it  the  stamp  of 
Moliamme'i  Ali.^  Mr.  Horner,  moreover,  supposed  the 
rate  of  the  deposit  of  mud,  at  a  given  spot,  only  three 
and  a  half  inches  in  a  century,'  but  the  description  of  the 

*  Brugech,  vol.  i.  pp.  xix.  xx.  ^  Ihid.,  p.  33. 
■  Origin  of  Nations,  p.  20. 

*  jEgy^den  und  der  Bucher  Moseys,  p.  22. 

•  Lubbock's  Pre/iis^oric  T^wes,  p.  395. 

•  Southall's  liecent  Origin  of  Man,  p.  474.  "' 

'f  The  changes  in  the  Hooghly  are  so  rapid  that  it  is  impossible 
to  fix  the  limits  of  property  on  its  boi  dcrs,  that  which  is  solid 
grouud  one  year  being  swallowed  up,  and  new  territory  formed 


ANTIQUITY   AND   ORIGIN   OF   MAN. 


153 


same  spot  by  a  Mahometan  writer  only  six  centniies 
ago,  sliows  that  the  mud  is  deposited  at  the  rate  of  over 
eijjrhteeu  inches  in  a  Imiidred  vears.^  No  wonder  tliat  even 
the  Anfliropoloijiail  Rociauj  pronouncos  Mr.  Hornf>r's 
evidence  as  preposterous,  and  laments  that  Sir  Charlos 
Lyell  "  should  have  thought  it  worth  his  whilo  to  notice 
such  absurdities.'^  *  • 

The  rise  of  Babylonian  civilization  was  long  supposed, 
on  the  authority  of  fragments  of  a  book  by  Berosus,  a 
priest  at  Babylon  about  260  years  before  Ciirist,  to  be 
as  old  as  the  Egyptian  had  been  fancied  to  be,  on  the 
authority  of  Mauetho.  But  hero,  too,  the  advance  of 
exact  knowledge  has  dissipated  exaggeration.  Scholars 
are  now  virtually  agreed  that  the  earliest  traces  of  Btiby- 
lonian  history  date,  at  most,  only  to  the  year  2500  before 
Christ,^  though  Borosus  had  assigned  the  Flood  to  the 
year  41,G97,  and  the  legends  of  the  cuneiform  tablets 
claim  a  reign  of  4*32,000  years  for  ten  kings  before  ihat 
calumity.  George  Smith  and  Professor  Sayce,  indeed, 
th/ik  that  "no  coi temporary  monuments  can  be  placed 
earlier  than  2300  years  before  Christ,  and  even  this  date 
liiay  be  too  early  for  our  oldest  known  monuments,"*  and 
Lonormant  is  of  the  same  opinion.^  Allowing  ample 
time  for  the  first  stages  of  tribal  or  national  development, 

in  other  parts.     It  is  vho  samo  with  the  Lower  Mississippi  where 
there  are  no  danid. 
'  S'mthall,  p.  474. 

*  "Pieces  of  brick  Sk'ampfd  with  the  Grecian  honeysuckle,  and 
therefore,  at  the  earliost,  <lating  from  the  time  of  Alexander  the 
Great,  liave  been  ol>tauieil  from  as  great  depths  as  Mr.  Horner's 
borings." — Savillc,  On  the  Truth  of  the  Bible,  p.  26. 

*  Brockliaus'  Conversations  Lex,  (xii.  Auf),  vol,  ii.  p.  620. 

*  Smitli's  Bnhiilonia,  edited  by  Prof.  Sayce,  p.  54.  Schrader's 
Bahijloniou,  in  lliehrn's  llawlwurtcrhuch. 

^  Leijormant, Manuel  d'll iatoire  Ancienne  de  V Orient,  vol.  ii.  p.  22i 


M 


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i 


•s. 


m 


■   s 

' ' '  'I 


^■'11 


aeaa 


|r 


154 


ANTIQUITY   AND   ORIGIN   OF   MAN. 


this  would  at  most  carry  Babylonian  history  to  a  date  of 
3000  years,  or  thereabouts,  before  ChHst. 

The  evidence  of  language  has  been  advanced  as  another 
ground  for  believing  in  the  extreme  antiquity  of  the 
human  race,  but  it  is  a  great  question  if  it  bo  entitled  to 
any  weight.  Tb'i  descent  of  the  Aryan  tribes  into  Hin- 
dustan, for  example,  is  fixed  by  the  highest  authorities  at 
not  f  urtb^ir  back,  at  the  most,  than  about  2000  years  before 
Christ,^  bub  what  changes  and  developments  have  taken 
place  since  then  in  the  Sanscrit  language  which  they 
spoke !  It  has  itself  died  out,  but  from  it  have  sprung  the 
Hindu  dialects  of  India,  the  Zend  of  ancient  Persia,  the 
Greek,  Latin,  Italian,  French,  Spanish,  Portuguese,  and 
Wallachian ;  the  different  Celtic  languages ;  the  Gothic, 
German,  and  Scandinavian  languages,  including  English ; 
and  the  Slavonic,  of  which  there  are  many  mutually  un- 
intelligible dialects  in  Kuss'a,  Austria,  and  Bulgaria. 
Iceland  was  colonized  by  the  Northmen  in  the  ninth  cen- 
tury ;  but  their  language,  then  pure  Scandinavian,  is  not 
understood  by  other  Scandinavian  races  now.  The  Nibe- 
lungen  Lied  is  only  seven  hundred  years  old,  but  its 
German  is  a  sealed  language  except  to  scholars.  A  thou- 
sand years  ago  a  national  song  might  have  waked  enthu- 
siasm over  all  the  area  in  which  English,  Dutch,  and 
Gern^an  are  now  spoken  in  Europe,  for  its  language  would 
have  been  everywhere  understood.  Since  the  colonization 
of  Iceland,  three  new  languages,  of  course  related,  have 
sprung  from  the  Scandinavian — the  Swedish,  Danish,  and 
Norwegian.     Fifteen  hundred  years  ago  Latin  was   the 

*  Haug,  indeed  {Essays  on  the  Sacred  Language,  etc.,  of  the 
Parsees,  p.  225),  assigns  the  date  of  B.C.  1500  for  the  dawn  of  Iraiiic 
civilization,  or  that  of  the  Modes,  Persians,  and  perhaps  the  Bao 
trians,  while  Max  Miiller  {Ancient  Sanscrit  Lit.,  p.  572)  thinks  that 
Inuzan  civilizaijon  beqan  about  B.C.  1200. 


ANTIQrrTT  AND   OBIQIN   OF   HAN. 


155 


mother  tongue  of  all  the  nations  now  speaking  the  Portu- 
guese, Spanish,  French,  Italian,  and  Wallachian.     There 
are  nearly  a  hundred  languages  spoken  at  this  time  in 
the  Caucasus,  and  in  South  America  Humboldt  reckoned 
them  by  hundreds.     Amongst  the  one  hundred  islands 
occupied  by  the  Melanesian  race,  there  are  no  less  than 
two  hundred  languages,  differing  from  each  other  as  much 
as  Dutch  and  German.    Among  some  races  of  Central 
Africa,  Barth  tells  us,  the  want  of  friendly  intercourse 
between  tribes  and  families  has   caused  so  many  dialects 
to  spring  up  as  to  make  communication  between  them 
difficult.     On  the  river  Amazon  Mr.  Bates  found  several 
individuals   in  a  canoe  speaking  mutually  unintelligible 
languages.     It  is,  in  fact,  impossible  to  fix  any  approxi- 
mate period  for  the  rise  of  new  forms  of  speech.      *'  If 
there  be  nothing  like  literature  or  society  to  keep  changes 
within  limits,''  says  Max  Miiller,  "two  villages,  separated 
for  only  a  few  generations,  will  soon  become  mutually 
unintelligible.     This  takes  place  in  America  as  well  as  on 
the  borders  of  China  and  India ;  and  in  the  north  of  Asia, 
Messerschmidt   relates  that  the  Ostiaks,  though  really 
speaking  the  same  language  everywhere,  have  produced 
so  many  words  and  forms  peculiar  to  each  tribe,  that 
even  within  the  limit  of  ten  or  twelve  German  miles,  con- 
versation  between   them  becomes   extremely  difficult." 
What  then  must  have  been  the  history  of  language  in 
the  early  ages  of  the  world,  when  each  hamlet  was  at  war 
with  its  neighbour;  when  society,  literature,  and  civi- 
lization were  yet  unborn,  and  when  the  human  mind  itself 
had  as  yet  the  instability  and  ignorance  of  childhood  ? 

Looked  at,  tlierefore,  from  every  point  of  view,  there 
seems  no  ground  for  placi^ig  the  appearance  of  mankind 
on  the  earth  further  back  than  the  Bible  has  assigned, 
but,  on  the  contrary,  every  reason  for  accepting  its  state- 


i 


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'.Vj 


r  " " "  "^rmrr-^ 


a^iiniiiili 


4' 


!  ( 


156 


ANTIQUITY    AND   ORIGIN    OF   MAN. 


tncnts.  The  keenest  critical  investi^ifation  has  decided 
with  a  wonderful  unanimity  that  the  history  of  our  race, 
except  in  the  case  of  Egypt,  does  not  reach  further  back 
from  the  present  day  tlian  about  4,500  years ;  while,  as  to 
the  antiquity  of  Egypt  itself,  scholars  differ  to  the  extent 
of  no  less  than  3,000  years.  But  even  if  v/e  were  to 
take  the  period  as  approximately  correct,  which  Lepsius 
and  ^bers  adopt — 38l)'  yen  b  »fore  Christ,  it  would 
be  perfectly  reconnlable  with  tho  clironology  of  the  Bible, 
of  which,  as  has  been  sL  ;>,  :e  have  no  authoritative 
statement.  It  would  at  most  take  ..  hack  5,700  years,  and 
leave,  according  to  many  eminent  chronologists,  ample 
margin  for  all  that  is  related  in  Genesis  of  an  earlier  date. 
But  the  subject  is  in  apparently  hopeless  confusion  and 
darkness.  It  is  at  least  free  to  all  to  withhold  full  assent 
to  chronological  systems,  when  even  their  authors  admit 
that  the  data  on  which  they  are  based  are  largely  conjec- 
tural. Nor  is  it  easy  to  imagine  how  Egypt,  if  civilized 
two  thousand  years  before  any  other  natiun,  should  for 
all  these  centuries  have  been  a  centre  of  light,  without 
transmitting  some  of  its  brightness  to  couniuries  around, 
with  which  it  was  in  constant  intercourse. 

The  varieties  of  the  huinaii  race  have  been  held  another 
proof  of  its  extreme  antiquity.  The  contrast  between 
the  negro  and  other  branches  of  mankind  has  espe- 
cially been  insisted  upon,  the  fact  being  often  quoted 
that  we  find  him  mentioned  in  a  historical  Egyptian 
document  of  the  seventh  Dynasty,^  and  depicted  exactly 
as  he  is,  on  the  monuments,  at  a  later  period.  But  the 
rise  of  a  new  type  and  even  of  a  new  colour  of  mankind 
is  not  unknown  even  within  the  historical  period.  The 
Jews  of  the  East  are  now  as  black  as  the  inhabitants,  while 
those  of  cold  countries  are  as  fair  as  Caucasians.  The 
*  Brugcch,  vol.  i.  p.  99.     liecord»  of  the  Past,  vol.  ii.  p.  3. 


ANTIQUITY   AND   ORIQIN    OF   MAN. 


157 


American  difforg  in  tho  whole  pliysical  appearance  and  in 
the  shape  of  his  face  from  the  Entrlislutian,  vvliose  near 
desccndanfi  he  is.  The  Tu^'ks  of  Europe  in  a  few  cen- 
turies have  diverged  so  far  from  their  Tartar  original 
that  the"  are  sometimes  reiorred  to  the  Caucasian  stock, 
thoc.gh  we  kno'^  their  Mongolian  origin.  The  Magyars 
of  Hungary  have  lost  in  a  thousand  years  nearly  every 
trace  of  the  Tartar  features  of  their  ancestors — the  O.^tiaks 
of  Northern  Siberia.  The  tall,  lank  American  Indians 
can  be  recognised  as  derived  from  the  squat  and  strongly 
marked  Mongol,  only  by  the  unerring  witness  of  their 
various  languages.  Who  would  suspect  the  unv.  >u;  and 
stunted  Lapp  to  bo  of  the  same  family  as  the  -all  'ell- 
formed,  handsome  Magyar  ?  Yet  they  we  o.  "ginally 
one. 

The  negro  seems,  indeed,  to  hare  assumi  br  typical 
characteristics  from  special  conditions,  in  a  tropical  cli- 
mate. "  The  real  Af Hcan,"  says  Winwood  Reade,^  a  most 
competent  witness  '*  is  copper-coloured,  aiid  superior  to 
the  negro,  mentally  and  physically.  It  is  my  belief  that 
the  negro  inhabits  only  maritime  districts,  or  the  marshy 
districts  of  the  interior;  that  he  originally  belonged  to 
the  copper-coloured  race;  and  that  his  degeneration  of 
type  is  duo  entirely  to  the  influence  of  climate  and  food." 
The  privations  of  the  natives  of  Connemara,  in  tho  year 
preceding  the  famine  of  1847,  were  remarked  as  having 
led  to  u  chr.nge  in  the  whole  physical  type :  the  jaws 
becoming  prominent,  as  in  the  negro,  and  the  whole  ma?i 
affected.  It  is  to  be  remembered,  moreover,  that  a  modi- 
fication of  structure  or  colour  once  introduced  becomes 
pennaneut,  and  that  circumstances  ma}  lead  to  it  to  tho 
most  surprising  extent  in  a  very  short  time,  as  in  the 
lower  animals.  All  the  varieties  of  domestic  pigeons 
^  Anthropological  Review  (Nov.  1864),  p.  341. 


I 


idMta^MiMiriHI 


158 


ANTIQUITY   AND   ORIGIN   OF   MAN. 


1 1 


arc  traced  by  Darwin  to  the  stock-dove,^  and  are  rightly 
ascribed  by  him  to  artificial  selection  by  man.  Acci- 
dental malformation  may  be  artificially  perpetuated,  when 
desired,  by  separation  of  the  malformed  as  the  stock  of  a 
new  variety.  The  different  breeds  of  sheop,  horses,  oxen, 
goats,  cats,  rabbits,  and  still  more  of  doinostic  fowl,  show 
that  all  these  species,  even  while  under  human  observa- 
tion, are  subject  to  greater  variations  than  are  found  in 
the  different  races  of  men.* 

Whether  the  different  families  which  repeoplod  the 
earth  after  the  Deluge  had  already  become  more  or  less 
contrasted,  is  not  within  the  possibility  of  answer.  But 
with  the  acknowledged  changes  in  bony  structure  and 
colour,  which  have  been  quoted  from  instances  within 
recent  times,  there  surely  remains  no  surpassing  difficulty 
in  the  belief  that  the  negro  may  early  have  assumed  his 
special  cha*'  /*teristics,  from  special  influences  of  locality 
and  food ;  and  these,  by  a  law  of  nature,  would  be  per- 
petuated ever  after.  The  words  of  Darwin  respecting 
varieties  in  domestic  animals  need  only  slight  change  to 
be  applied  to  mankind.  "  The  argument  mainly  relied 
on  by  those  who  believe  in  the  multiple  origin  of  our 
domestic  animals  is,  that  we  find  in  the  most  ancient 
records,  more  especially  on  the  mouuments  of  Egypt, 
much  diversity  in  the  breeds  ;  and  that  some  of  the 
breeds  resemble,  perhaps  are  identical  with,  those  still 
existing.  Even  if  this  latter  fact  were  found  more 
strictly  and  generally  true  than  seems  to  me  to  be  the 
case,  what  does  it  show,  but  that  some  of  our  breeds 
originated  there,  four  or  five  thousand  years  ago."  * 

'  Origin  of  Species,  p.  23.  Many  iiitc  resting  facts  on  the 
subject,  of  this  chapter  may  be  found  in  Wiseuian's  Connexion  he- 
tween  Science  and  Revealed  Beligion. 

'  See,  on  this,  Eng.  Oijclo.,  vol.  ix  |).  670. 

'  Origin  of  Species,  p.  18. 


CHAPTER  XI. 


ORIGIN   OF   MAN,    AND   HIS   PRIMITIVE   CONDITION,  ETC. 

IT  is  now  nine  years  since  Mr.  Darwin  published  his 
"  Descent  of  Man"  (l'^71),  which  startled  the  world 
by  calmly  maintaining  that  we  have  sprung,  by  slow  and 
almost  imperceptible  stages,  from  the  lower  animals. 
Man's  extreme  antiquity  on  the  earth,  which  had  first 
been  broached  about  twelve  years  before,  was  thence- 
forward urged  with  increased  confidence.  But,  to  use  the 
words  of  Mr.  Wallace,  one  of  the  foremost  of  living 
naturalists,  and  tho  most  eminent  supporter  of  some  of 
Mr.  Darwin's  views :  "  It  is  a  curious  circumstance  that, 
notwithstanding  the  attention  that  has  been  directed  to 
the  subject  in  every  part  of  the  world,  and  the  numerous 
excavations  connected  with  railways  and  mines,  which 
have  offered  such  facilities  for  geological  discoveries,  no 
advance  whatever  has  been  made  for  a  considerable 
number  of  years  in  detecting  the  time  or  mode  of  man's 
origin.  The  Pulajolithic  (old  rough)  flint  implements, 
first  discovered  in  the  North  of  France  more  than  thirty 
yeai's  ago,  are  still  the  oldest  undisputed  proofs  of  man's 
existence ;  and  amid  the  countless  relics  of  a  former 
world  that  have  been  brought  to  light,  no  evidence  of 
any  one  of  tlie  links  that  must  have  t;onnectcd  man  with 

m 


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ri  i 


160  OKIOIN   OF    MANj   AND   HIS   PRIMITITE   CONDITI0N|  XTC. 

the  lower  animals  has  yet  appeared."^  Two  skulls,  sup- 
posed to  bo  the  ohioab  as  yet  found,  show  no  trace  of 
inferiority.  One  is  not  of  so  low  a  type  as  that  of  most 
existing  savages,  hut,  to  use  the  words  of  Professor  Hux- 
ley, ''may  have  h(^loiig*i'd  to  a  philosopher,  or  may  have 
contained  the  thoughtless  brains  of  a  savage";  the 
other,  as  Dr.  Pruuer-Bey  informs  us,  surpasses  tlio 
average  of  modern  Euro[)eau  skulls;  while  its  symmetrical 
form  compares  favourably  with  the  skulls  of  many  civi- 
lized nations  of  modern  times. 

Nor  is  the  want  of  evidence  of  the  development  of 
humbler  into  higher  races  limited  to  man.  Its  utter 
absence  in  the  case  of  the  lower  animals,  and  of  plants, 
goes  far  to  show  that  the  theory  has  no  basis  of  facts  in 
nature,  and  that  it  is  thus  most  unlikely  to  be  correct 
in  reference  to  human  beings.  The  doctrine  of  the 
transformation  of  species,"  says  Heer,  "is  most  decidedly 
contradicted  by  facts.  Not  only  has  no  new  species 
originated  during  the  period  of  human  history,  but  even 
the  lignites  (or  woody  coal),  which  go  back  to  a  much 
earlier  time,  exhibit  the  existing  flora.  The  present 
Swiss  Alpine  plants  are  the  descendants  of  the  Alpine 
drift  flora,  but,  though  living  under  different  physical 
conditions,  it  is  impossible  to  distinguiph  those  of  the 
present  day  from  plants  of  the  drift  flora  of  Iceland  and 
Greenland.  It  is  the  same  with  marine  animals.  No 
new  species  has  had  its  origin  since  the  drift  period. 


»  Tropical  Nature  and  other  Essays,  p.  286,  by  A.  R.  "Wallace. 
Mr.  VVullace,  like  Mr.  Boyd  Dawkins  {Cave  Hunting),  believes 
mau  to  have  been  pre-glacial — that  is,  to  have  existed  hundreds 
of  thousands  of  years  ago.  Hence  his  words  -..'O  the  origin  of 
man  have  the  greater  weight.  It  should  be  remembered,  how- 
ever, that  he  in  no  geologist,  and  simply  takes  the  word  of  othura 
as  to  ihe  extreme  antiquity  of  the  race. 


ORIGIN   OF   MAN,   AND    HIB   PRIMITIVE   CONDITION,  ETC.    I  CI 


Nor  is  tliia  pocuHar  to  the  drift.  The  same  facta  are  true 
of  prccLMlit)^  ^t'olonfical  p(M*iods.  The  same  species  main- 
tain tlioir  oxisti'nco  through  long  cycloa,  and  often,  in  all 
parts  of  tho  globe,  present  precisely  the  same  cuaracter- 
istics  Tlie  formation  immediately  following  any  earlier 
period,  and  belonging  to  a  new  epoch,  may  contain  somo 
species  inherited  from  the  preceding  period,  but  tho 
greater  p:irt  of  tho  species  show  us  a  new  type,  and 
present  distinct  characteristics.  There  are  no  forms 
which  would  indicate  a  fusion  of  species.''  *  Such  is  tho 
testimony  of  one  of  the  acutest  observers,  and  most 
accomplished  geologists  of  the  day. 

It  has  further  been  noticed,  that  so  far  from  deteriora- 
tion as  we  go  back,  we  find  it  rather  as  we  come  down 
towards  the  present ;  for  the  oldest  cave  dwellings,  claimed 
by  some  scientific  men  as  marking  an  immemorial  an- 
tiquity for  the  race,  show  a  far  higher  degree  of  mental 
activity  and  civilization  in  t  heir  inhabitants  than  the  relics 
of  what  are  held  to  be  much  later  times.  The  variety  of 
tools  and  weapons — scrapers,  awls,  hammers,  saws,  lances, 
etc. — the  numerous  bone  implements,  including  well- 
formed  needles;  implying  that  skins  were  sewn  together, 
and  perhaps  even  textile  materials  woven  into  cloth — 
above  all,  the  numerous  carvings  and  drawings,  repre- 
senting a  variety  of  animals,  such  as  horses,  reindeer,  and 
even  a  mammoth;  executed  with  considerable  skill  on 
bone,  reindeer  horns,  and  mammoth  tusks ;  show  a  state  of 
civilization  m*  ch  higher  than  that  of  some  of  our  modem 
savages,  and  lead  to  the  belief  that  the  most  ancient 
skulls  we  possess,  are  not  exceptional  in  -their  high 
development,  but  fairly  represent  the  characters  of  thu 
then  existing  race.     Thus,  instead  of  growing  like  the 

*  Heer,  vol.  ii.  pp.  2S2,  291.    Dr.  Heor,  we  believe,  died  laat  year, 
VOL.  I.   -  II 


f 


\\iij 


162   ORIGIN    OF   MAN,    AND    HIS    PRIMITIVE   CONDITION,    ETC. 


I 


I    ' 


H.l 


animals,  as  be  recedes  into  dim  antiquity,  man  has,  at 
best,  only  preserved  the  high  type  shown  in  these,  his 
earliest  ancestors.^ 

Since,  then,  no  trace  of  an  approach  to  the  ape,  in 
any  particular,  has  been  found  in  any  geological  deposit 
01  superficial  drift,  we  may  dismiss  the  simial  origin  of 
man  as  a  baseless,  because  utterly  unsupported  theory. 
The  lowest  rocks  have  preserved  the  traces  of  marine 
worms  and  other  zoophytes,  the  carboniferous  strata 
entomb  specimens  of  reptiles,  fruits,  flowers,  and  leaves, 
and  of  the  spiders  and  insects  then  existing :  the  other 
rocks  abound  in  the  remains  of  animals  of  all  kinds,  and 
retain  even  the  impress  of  the  foot  of  a  bird  or  a  small 
reptile,  and  of  the  ra'a-drops  of  a  passing  shower,  on 
what  was  once  soft  sand.  Sui'ely,  then,  some  traces  would 
have  been  forthcoming  of  the  missing  links  between  man 
and  the  lower  orders  had  they  ever  existed.  It  will  be 
time  enough  to  dwell  on  the  creature  "  not  worthy  to  be 
called  a  man,''  w'aich  Sir  J.  Lubbock  thinks  was  our 
immediate  ancestor,  when  he  produces  some  sign  of  hia 

*  In  reference  to  the  flint  tools  and  weapons  found  in  caves  like 
those  of  Devonshire  or  Derbyshire,  it  has  been  said  that  the  fact  of 
the  mouths  of  the  caves  being  now  high  above  the  level  of  streams 
which  formerly  overflowed  into  them,  marks  an  untold  lapse 
oi  time.  But  elevations  of  land  are  common,  frequently  rapid, 
and  often,  moreover,  very  limited  in  their  range.  The  well-known 
case  of  the  Temple  of  Serapis,  at  Puzzuoli,  near  Naples,  shows 
that  within  the  hijitoric  period,  the  spot  where  it  stands  was  once 
beneath  the  sea;  was  afterwards  upraised,  and  became  the  sice  of 
atcmple  older  than  the  one  whose  remains  are  now  standing; 
was  possibly  again  submerged,  and  again  upraised  before  the 
building  of  the  present  ruin;  was  again  let  dovm  till  the  sea  rose 
»t  least  twenty  feet  above  the  pavement  of  the  Temple;  was 
again  raised  into  dry  land,  and  is  now  slowly  sinking  once  more. 
Lyell's  Principles  of  Geology,  vol.  ii.  chap.  xxx.  Green's  Geology, 
p.  336. 


A 
it 


ORIGIN    OF    MAN,    AND    HIS    PRIMITIVE    CONDITION,   ETC.     163 

ever  having  been  more  than  a  philosopher's  invention. 
Till,  then  we  prefer  to  extend  to  both  the  physiology  and 
higher  nature  of  man  the  words  which  Professor  Huxley 
limits  to  the  latter ;  that  between  man  and  all  lower 
animals,  even  the  highest,  there  is  a  difference  so  wide 
that  it  cannot  be  measured — "an  enormous  gulf,"  "p 
divergence  immeasurable"  and  "practically  infinite.' 
Indeed  he  might  almost,  apparently,  have  adopted  the 
words  of  Max  Miiller  :  "  Man  alone  employs  language,— 
he  alone  comprehends  himself, — alone  has  the  power  of 
abstraction, — alone  possesses  general  ideas.  He  alone 
believes  in  God."  ^  When  such  absolute  contrasts  ob- 
trude themselves,  the  choice  of  opinions  seems  easy. 
There  may  well  have  been  in  the  Creator's  plan  oc- 
casional development  of  powers,  or  changes  of  appearance, 
as  the  result  of  long-continued  change  of  outward 
relations ;  but,  beyond  this,  the  theory  of  man's  descent  . 
or  that  of  other  creatures,  from  races  below  them,  reraaina  ' 
a  mero  theory  still,  in  spite  of  the  zealous  efforts  of  a 
school  to  elevate  it  to  something  more.  For  our  part, 
we  prefer  to  believe  with  Moses,  that  our  race  is  a  species 
created  by  itself,  and  endowed  directly  by  the  Almighty 
with  unique  mental  and  spiritual  characteristics,  rather 
than  with  the  anthropologists,  who  would  trace  us  back 
to  the  lower  creatures.  . 

The  original  state  of  man  has  been  supposed,  by  those 
who  believe  in  his  extreme  antiquity,  to  have  been  one 
of  "utter  barbarism,"^  wanting  e\en  elementary  religious 
ideas ;  our  present  civilization  being  the  gradual  develop- 
ment of  untold  ages. 

But  there  are  many  grounds  for  questioning  this  theory. 
It  cannot,  for   instance,  be  inferred  that  the  discovery 

*  Chips,  etc.  vol.  iv.  p.  458. 

*  This  is  the  view  of  Sir  .J.  Lubbock,  in  his  PrehistortG  Man, 


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164   ORIGIN    OP   MAN,    AND    HIS   PRIMITIVE    CONDITION,  ETC. 

of  rude  stone  implomenis  in  any  country  is  an  index  of 
the  state  of  civilization  in  other  parts  of  the  world  at 
the  same  time,  for  in  that  case  the  Scuih  Sea  Islanders 
and  the  Eskimo  would  determine  the  estimate  of  cur 
present  condition  in  a  way  hardly  just.  Nor  can  the 
finding  similar  tools  in  Germany,  France,  or  England  be 
any  measure  of  the  civilization  existing  at  the  period 
to  which  they  belong  on  the  banks  of  the  Euphrates  or 
Nile.i 

It  is  the  mode  of  this  school  to  collect  all  the  most 
degraded  and  savage  customs  and  usages  of  any  people, 
and  assume  that  they  are  traces  of  the  original  condition 
of  the  race.  But  such  a  course  is  utterly  unphilosophical, 
for  it  may  with  equal  force  be  urged  that  they  are  illus- 
trations of  the  decay  of  a  primitive  civilization,  under 
circumstances  leading  to  such  degradation.  That  tribes 
and  nations  have  thus  sunk  is  beyond  a  question.  Hero- 
dotus *  tells  us  of  the  Geloni,  a  Greek  people,  who,  having 
been  expelled  from  the  cities  on  the  northern  coast  of 
the  Euxine,  had  ri  tired  into  the  interior,  and  there  lived 
in  wooden  huts,  and  spoke  a  language  "  half  Greek,  half 
Scythian."  By  the  first  century  after  Christ,  Mela  tt^lls 
us  they  had  become  completely  barbarous,  and  used  the 
Bkins  of  their  slain  enemies  as  coverings  for  themselves 
and  their  horses.^  The  Veddas  of  Ceylon,  now  savages 
of  the  most  debased  type,  are  believed,  on  the  reliable 
ground  of  their  vocabulary,  to  be  degenerate  descendants 
of  the  tribes  who  brought  Aryan  civilization  to  the  plains 
of  Hindustan.*  "They  make  thomselves  understood,'' 
says  Sir  Emerson  Tennent,  "  by  signs,  grimaces,  and 
guttural  sounds,  which  havo  little  resemblance  to  definite 

^  Duke  of  Argyll's  Primeval  Man,  p.  184.        *  Herod.,  iv.  108 

■  Pomp.  Mel,  ii.  1. 

*  Eawlin son's  Origin  of  Nations,  p.  6. 


OEiaiN   OP   MAN,   AND    HIS    PRIMITIVE   CONDITION,  ETC.    1  '5 


words,  or  lano-uncre  in  general."  Ycfc  of  this  race  ^I:ix 
Muller  writes :  "  More  tlian  half  of  the  words  used  by 
them  are  mere  corruptions  of  Sanscrit;  their  very  name 
is  the  Sanscrit  for  hunter.  If  now  they  stand  low  in  the 
scale  of  humanity,  they  once  stood  higher;  nay,  they  may 
possibly  prove  in  language,  if  not  in  blood,  the  distant 
cousins  of  Plato,  and  Newton,  and  Goethe.*'  ^  The 
obliteration  of  Roman  civilization  in  many  parts  of  the 
empire,  after  the  irruption  of  the  barbarians,  is  an  equally 
striking  example  of  the  lapse  of  nations  from  a  higher 
to  a  lower  culture. 

It  is  easy  to  realize  how  the  mere  pressure  of  increas- 
ing numbers  on  the  means  of  subsistence  would  drive 
weak  tribes  from  hospitable  to  more  and  more  wretched 
homes,  where  with  security,  except  from  each  other,  they 
would  have  to  maintain  such  a  struggle  for  existence  as 
must  infallibly  involve  their  sinking  into  barbarism.  Tlie 
Eskimo  at  the  north  of  the  American  continent,  and  the 
saviiges  of  Terra  del  Fuego  in  the  far  south,  are  illus- 
trations ',  for  what  but  dire  necessity  could  have  forced 
human  beings  to  take  up  their  abode  in  such  terrible 
regions,  if  the  warm  and  fertile  landscapes  of  happier 
climates  had  been  open  to  them  ?  Even  amidst  Arctic* 
regions,  indeed,  the  feuds  of  tribes  drive  the  weaker  still 
farther  north.  Thus  Admiral  Osborne  ^  informs  us  that 
a  tribe  wandering  along  the  extreme  northern  edge 
of  the  Siberian  coast  had  recently  driven  another  tribe 
across  the  Frozen  Sea  to  an  island  lying  so  far  north  that 
only  its  mountain  tops  could  be  o-^cusionally  seen  from 
the  Siberian  headlands.  "  Terra  del  Fuego,"  says  Mr. 
Darwin,  *'  is  a  broken  mass  of  wild  rocks,  lofty  hills,  and 
useless  forests,  and  these  are  viewed  through  mists  and 

'   Chips,  vol.  iv.  p.  360. 

«  Times,  December  30th,  1867. 


II 


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166   ORIGIN    OP   MAN,    AND    HIS    PRIMITIVE    CONDTTION,   LTC. 

endless  storms.  The  habitable  land  is  reduced  to  the 
stones  of  the  beach.  In  search  of  food  the  people  are 
compelled  to  wauder  ^.nceasingly  from  spot  to  spot,  and 
so  steep  is  the  coast  that  they  can  only  move  about  iu 
their  wretched  canoes."^  How  could  tribes  in  suoh  a 
land,  or  those  in  the  uttermost  north,  amidst  eternal  ice^ 
be  anything  but  degraded  ?  But  it  cannot  surely  be  said 
that  they  were  created  at  first  where  we  now  find  them, 
and  it  is  hard  to  believe  that  they  havo  not  become 
greatly  lower  than  their  ancestors,  who  came  from  happier 
lands. 

The  supposed  absence  of  any  religion  among  some 
savnge  races  has  been  assumed  as  a  proof  of  the  "  utter 
barbarism  "  of  primeval  man.  But  surely  if  some  men, 
as,  for  example,  the  late  John  Stuart  Mill,  can  speak  of 
themselves  as  without  any  religion,  even  amidst  modern 
society,  it  is  easy  to  understand  how  the  gross  mental 
darkness  of  long-continued  savagery,  struggling  for  the 
meanest  existence,  may  efiace  or  nearly  efface  all  religious 
conceptions.  It  is,  moreover,  certain  that  religions  are 
apt  to  decay  as  they  grow  old.  "  If  there  is  one  thing," 
says  Max  Miiller,  "which  a  comparative  ^tudy  of  religions 
places  in  the  clearest  light,  it  is  the  in^  /itable  decay  to 
which  every  k  ^ligion  is  exposed.''*  Nor  is  it  at  all  a 
necessity  that  even  if  man  were  originally  placed  merely 
in  the  first  step  of  ascending  culture  he  might  not  have 
had  lofty  and  pure  though  simple  views  of  God  and  of 
his  duty.  The  further  we  go  back  in  history  the  clearer 
become  tho  traces  of  some  pure  traditions  and  the  rays  of 
Bomo  j^^'iirf'V'^l  liglit.^ 

The  i  iv'i  th.i>  during  the  ages  in  which  extreme  bar* 

'^  Danrin's  Voyaae  of  <  Naturalist,  p.  216. 

*  Ohrp8  fy'o.ri  a  Gev  i-m  Workshop,  yoj.  i.  p.  xxiii, 


ORIGIN   OP   MAN,    AND    HIS    PRIMITIVE    CONDITION,  ETC.    167 


barism  prevailed  over  Europe — and  when  the  world  at 
large  seems  to  have  been  peopled  mostly  by  trib(»s  re- 
duced to  tbe  deepest  rudeness  by  constant  wars,  and 
by  the  savas^ery  to  which  these  led, — a  civilization  such 
as  that  of  Egypt  should  have  existed,  seems,  furtlier, 
to  imply  the  preservation  on  the  banks  of  the  Nile  of  an 
inheritance  from  an  earlier  period  of  culture  and  advance- 
ment. Archbishop  Whately's  argument  that  no  tribo  or 
people  was  ever  civilized  from  within  itself,  but  always 
by  influences  from  without,'  seem  indisputable  if  applied 
to  such  utter  de<^radation  as  Sir  J.  Lubbock  assumes  in 
the  first  men — a  degradation  leaving  them  hardly  above 
the  animals.  Some  Prometheus  musu  surely  in  such  a 
case  have  brought  'he  Divine  sparK  to  them  from  heaven. 
But  in  Egypt  we  find,  apparently  as  early  as  B.C.  3000^ — 
that  is,  5000  years  ago — a  civilization  producing  marvels 
of  architecture  which  sti  1  lemain  unique.  To  raise  a 
structure  like  the  Great  P/ramid,  746  feet  square  at  the 
base,  rising  to  a  height  of  t50  feet,  requiring  the  labour, 
for  thirty  years,  of  relays  of  men,  numberiug,  in  aL,  eleven 
millions !  ^ — a  structure,  to  present  it  in  another  way, 
covering  a  ground  space  of  over  twelve  square  acres, 
containing  90,000,000  cubic  feet  of  masonry,  and  eigh- 
ing,  as  is  calculated,  6,t:U 6,000  tons,* — implies  at  iirlier 
civilization  of  which  it  is  the  crowning  triumph.  This  is 
still  more  certain  when  we  find  that  it  is  truly  scjuare,  the 
sides  being  equal  and  the  angles  right  angles  ;  that  the 
four  sockets  in  which  the  first  four  stones  of  it  corners 
rest  are  exactly  on  the  same  level;  that  the duv  .'tious  of 

*  Whately'a  Miscellaneous  'Essays.     Lecture  on  Civ'li   •Hon. 

«  Chiibas  gives  the  date  of  the  Pyramida  at  B.C.  3300.    Lepsiua 
and  EbeiH  at  b.c,  3100,  3000. 

*  Ifennlotns,  ii.  124 

*  Eitylish  Gyclopcedia,  art.  Egypt, 


II 


H\ 


iSiii 


Urn 


I 


'■ 


ins    OIIIQIN    OP   MAN,    AND    HIS   PRIMITIVE    CONDITION,   ElO, 

the  aides  are  accurately  to  the  four  cardinal  points  ;  ami 
tliMt  the  vertical  licij^lit  of  the  pyramid  bears  the  sarno 
proportion  to  its  circumference  at  the  base  as  the  radius 
of  a  circle  does  to  its  circumference.^  Nor  are  all  tlicso 
measures,  angles,  and  levels  merely  in  a  degree  accurate ; 
the  best  modern  instruments  can  scarcely  detect  the 
very  slightest  error.  The  workmanship  of  the  interior 
chambers,  moreover,  is  not  less  wonderful,  for  the  passages, 
and  the  chambers  themselves,  are  lined  with  huge  blocks 
of  granite,  polished  to  the  highest  degree,  and  fitted  into 
each  other  with  the  utmost  accuracy.*  Such  architecture 
surely  points  bock  not  to  "  utter  degradation,"  but  to  an 
inheritance  of  civilization  presumably  from  beyond  the 
Flood. 

The  distinguishing  chai'acteristics  of  the  corn  plants, 
such  as  oats,  wheat,  barley,  rice,  maize,  etc.,  seem  in  the 
same  way  to  point  to  a  very  different  condition  from 
"  utter  degradation,*'  as  that  of  our  first  parents.  Like 
the  fruit  trees  and  many  of  the  existing  animals,  they 
make  their  appearance  on  the  earth  along  with  man, 
and  are  entirely  unknown  in  earlier  ages.  Moreover, 
while  ;ue  primitive  types  of  all  our  other  esculent  plants 
are  still  to  be  found  in  this  or  other  countries,  those  of 
the  corn  plants  are  utterly  unknown.  Corn  has  never 
been  met  with  except  as  a  cultivated  plant.  It  is  found 
in  the  wrappings  of  Egyptian  mummies,  and  in  the 
charred  remains  of  the  Swiss  Lake  dwellings,  but  never 
apart  from  its  cultivation  by  man.  It  cannot  grow  spon- 
taneously, and  is  never,  like  other  plants,  self-sown  and 

*  Professor  Piazzi  Smyth's  Our  InheHtance  in  tliQ  Great 
Pyramid.  Professor  Srnyth  devoted  many  months  to  these 
measurements,  etc.,  using  the  best  instruments.  V- 

3  Birks'  Eyijpt,  vol.  i.  p.  3d.  Wallace's  Tropical  Nature,  etc., 
p.  299. 


OllIQIN   OP   MAN,    AND    HIS    PRIMITIVE    CONDITION,    ETC.    169 

solf-sproad.  If  nof.  cultivated,  it  soon  disappears  and 
grows  extinct.  It  needs  human  labour  to  perpetuat*  it, 
and  seems  to  have  been  given  us  by  God  as  it  is,  to  stimu- 
late our  industry  and  reward  it.^  If  the  ear  be  plucked 
o(f  before  ripening,  a  second  growth  rises  from  the  roots 
the  next  year;  but  if  it  too  be  cut  off,  the  plant  gradually 
shrinks  into  a  worthless  grass,  which  not  only  cannot  be 
improved  again  into  grain,  but  is  soon  destroyed  alto- 
gether by  the  more  vigorous  natural  grasses.  Given  by 
God  to  our  iirst  parents,  the  grain  plants  secured  a 
transcendent  blessing  for  all  their  offspring,  on  condition 
of  steady  industry  in  their  cultivation  ;  but  such  a  gift 
implies  a  condition  far  removed  from  Sir  J.  Lubbock's 
*•  utter  degradation.'* 

It  is  not  necessary  to  suppose  that  wan  was  created  in 
any  state  of  artificial  luxury  or  refinement.  The  truest 
happiness  is  found  not  in  an  overwrought.  <*ivi;ization,  but 
in  the  simple  plenty  and  contentment  of  a  condition  where 
our  wants  are  still  few  and  natural,  and  our  intelligence 
and  knowledge,  acute  ana  gufSciont,  if  not  disciplined  and 
profound,*  The  Ohio  farmer,  or  the  Swiss  peasant, 
owning  his  land,  free  from  any  anxiety  for  the  futiire^^ 
with  every  want  of  the  body  supplied,  and  nature,  if  not 
books,  ever  open  to  feed  his  mind,  may  enjoy  life  and  be 
worthy  of  it,  far  more  than  if  his  lot  had  been  cast  in 
the  midst  of  an  artificial  refinement.  The  soul,  more- 
over, '^that  pillar  of  true  dignity  in  man,"  is  indepeudent 
of  outvFard  circumstances  for  the  grandeur  of  its  hopes, 
contemplations,  or  spiritual  life).  The  clear  heaven  of  an 
innocent  bosom  is   an  element  which,   added  to  a  very 

^  See  Bihle  Teachings  in  Naittre,  p.  102.  By  Rev.  Dr.  Mtio- 
millan. 

-  8oe  some  tboui^htfal  remarks  in  S.  Baring  Gould's  Hea- 
thenism and  Mosaism,  p.  49. 


m 


f^'jm 


1  \ 


iiii 


lit 


170   ORIGIN    OP    VAN,    AND    HIS    PRIMITIVE    CONDITION,    ETC. 

siinpio  outward  condition,  would  make  it  a  paradise ; 
and  that  our  first  parents  had.  How  much  kn()wk'd<i^o 
they  had  we  cannot  tell ;  but  remembernig  the  fact 
that  the  mere  savage  resembles  the  brute,  inasmuch  aa 
he  makes  no  improvements,^  it  is  not  too  much  to  believe 
that  they  possessed  the  germs  of  mach  that  needed  only 
experience  to  develop  u..io  the  arts  and  sciences  of  life 
and  nature.  If  it  be  asked,  in  Fichte*8  words,  "  Who 
then  educated  the  first  pair  ?  '^  his  answer  may  also  be 
given,  *'  A  spirit  bestowed  its  caw  on  them  ;'*  that  is, 
they  were  gifted  with  intuitive  knowledge,  as  far  aa 
needed,  at  their  creation* 

*  Whately'a  Ongin  of  Civilization,  p.  34. 

Zocler's  Bezichmnjen  zwischcn  Theologie  und  Natunvissenschaft, 
vol.  iii.  p.  751. 

Oil  this  subject  and  others  conneoted  with  tho  Antiquity  of 
.^.an,  much  interesting  mformation  will  bo  found  in  Fossil  Men 
and  their  Modern  Eepresentatives,  by  J.  W.  Dawson,  LL.D.  etc, 
London,  1880. 


i* , 


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tssil  Men 
j.D.  etc. 


CHAPTER  XII. 


THE    DESCENDANTS   OF   ADAM. 


THE  stay  of  man  in  Eden  may  hnve  been  longer  or 
shorter,  but  from  the  first  it  could  only  have  been 
conditional.  Mere  untried  virtue  does  not  deserve  the 
name,  nor  can  they  be  said  to  have  a  character,  that  is,  a 
moral  nature,  who  have  not  been  tempted.  Goodness  is 
not  a  passive  quality,  but  the  deliberate  prcf(>rence  of 
right  to  wrong ;  the  resistance  of  evil  and  the  manly 
assertion  of  its  opposite.  The  innocence  of  childliood  is 
only  that  of  a  simplicity  to  which  as  yet  temptation  is 
impossible ;  and  of  a  nature  so  incomplete,  that  it  has  as 
yet  no  passions  to  resist.  But  with  opening  manhood 
there  must  come  trial,  for  it  bears  the  elements  of  it  in 
its  bosom.  Our  first  parents,  like  ourselves,  stood  face 
to  face  v/ith  countless  soUcitations  oi"  the  intellect  and 
heart,  however  excited,  and  it  reL:ained  to  be  seen 
whether  they  would  subordinate  them  to  the  higher  will 
of  God,  or  weakly  act  in  independence  of  Him.  In  either 
case,  good  and  evil  would  alike  have  been  learned  -,  the 
good  in  the  peace  it  brought,  the  evil  as  its  hateful 
opposite ;  or  the  evil  in  the  misery  it  involved  and  the 
good  only  as  the  peace  for  which  we  yearn.  The  hitter 
was  the  choice;  but  sad  as  it  has  proved,  it  has  had  this 
mitigation,  that  the  struggle  towards  the  good  that  hud 

171 


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J.-.;. 
11 


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172 


THE   DESCENDANTS   OP   ADAM. 


'! 


If     ! 


lit 


,i  • 


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been  lost  is  the  source  of  all  that  is  moat  noble.  Better 
nnspoakiihly,  to  have  developed  under  the  favour  and  in 
the  iViuiidship  of  Hoavon;  but  still,  even  as  it  is,  ou* 
fallen  state  is  tempered  by  the  disdiplitio  of  struj^gle, 
intellectual  and  moral,  to  which  we  were  henceforth  com- 
mitted. 

Eden  was  no  longer  the  place  for  man  when  he  had 
lost  tliat  peace  and  joy  of  his  higher  nature  which  it  had 
symbolized.  It  is  impossible  to  fancy  what  is  meant 
by  the  Tree  of  Life.  Like  the  fabled  tree  of  the  Persians, 
or  like  that  of  India,  it  i*^ay  have  yielded  the  food  and 
drink  of  immortality,*  or  it  may  only  have  been  a  symbol 
of  the  great  truth,  that  spiritual  life  is  to  be  sought  by 
us,  not  from  within,  through  our  own  faculties  or  powers, 
but  from  without,  at  the  hands  of  God.^  In  any  case 
man  had  separated  himself  from  his  Creator,  and  he  must 
needs  be  made  to  realize  it  by  leaving  a  scene  identified 
with  the  Divine  presence. 

But  though  he  was  punished  for  his  transgression,  our 
first  parent  was  not  cursed.  Mysterious  beings,  in  long 
after  times  the  appointed  guardians  of  the  mercy  seat  ^ 
in  the  Tabernacle  and  in  the  Temple,  with  flaming  sword, 
were  set  to  keep  the  way  of  the  Tree  of  Life.  What  this 
can  mean  it  is  impossible  to  understand,  for  we  know 
nothing  by  which  to  illustrate  it.  The  symbolical 
creatures  to  whom  the  name  cherubim  is  given  in 
Scripture  throw  no  light  on  it,  for  we  can  never  arguo 
from  a  symbol  as  if  it  were  a  reality. 

Their  presence,  however,  hints  at  least  at  the  yearning 
of  man  for  immortality,  and  is  in  keeping  with  the  great 
promise  with  which   Scripture  closes,  that  those  found 

*  Eosenmiiiler's  Das  A.  und  N.  Morgenland,  vol.  i.  p.  9. 

*  Bishop  Harold  Browne,  in  Speaker's  Commentary,  vol.  i.  p.  40. 
»  Exod.  XXV  17-22 


>1      ! 


TilE    DESCENDANTS   OF  ADAM 


173 


worthy  shall  havo  right  to  tho  Tree  of  Life,  in  the 
midst  of  the  Ixftter  Paradise  of  tlio  City  of  God.^  The 
Jews  of  Christ's  day,  indeed,  fondly  cherished  thi.^  hope. 
*'Aud  it  is  permitted  no  single  mortal,"  says  tho  Book  of 
Enoch,  "  to  touch  this  tree  of  sweetest  fragrance  till  the 
time  of  the  Great  Judgraeut ;  but  when  everything  shall 
be  reconciled  and  made  perfect  for  ever,  it  will  be  given 
over  to  tho  righteous  and  lowly."  ^ 

Is  it  idle  to  think  that  the  flaming  splendour  was 
more  than  a  mere  barrier  to  man's  approach,  especially 
when  the  cherubim,  who  are  always  connected  with  ideas 
of  the  presence  of  God,  are  introdrjed  along  with  it? 
They  over-orched  the  mercy  seat  with  their  wings ;  they 
are  represented  as  bearing  up  the  throne  of  God.^  Was 
not  the  brightness,  ('irting,  in  this  case,  its  sword-liko 
rays  on  every  side, — the  symbol  of  the  presence  of  God ; 
like  the  light  which  shone  from  the  cloud,  on  the  camp  of 
Israel  in  the  wilderness  ?  May  it  not  have  marked  the 
first  sanctuary  of  our  fallen  race  ?  May  not  Cain  have 
alluded  to  it  when  he  went  out  from  "  the  presence  of 
Jehovah?"*  May  not  our  first  parents,  in  their  peni- 
tence, have  cried  out  before  it  like  the  Piialmist  of  later 
days,  "0  Thou  that  dwellest  between  the  cherubim, 
shine  forth  \"^ 

The  first  children  born  to  Adam  were  to  bear  sad  proof 
of  the  ruin  which  sin  had  brought  on  mankind.  Cain, 
tho  first-born,  was  thought  a  great  gift  from  God  when 
he  came;   a  "possession"   to  be  cherished  with  all  a 


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*  Rev.  xxii.  14. 

•  Das  Bach  Henoch,  Kap.  xxv.  4. 

•  Ezek.  ix.  3  ;  x.  4,  18.     Ps.  xviii.  10. 

*  Geu.  iv.  16. 

"  1*;^.  lx\x.  I.     Suu  McGaviu's  Scri^dare  Charackra  Jlludrated. 
p.  16. 


■■*;■' 


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23  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  N.Y.  14580 

(716)872-4503 


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174 


THE    DESCENDANTS   OF  ADAM. 


mother's  love.  But  his  name  had  the  double  meaning  of 
"  a  spear  **  as  well,  and  sorely  was  it  to  pierce  her  !  ^ 

Abel,  his  brother,  a  name,  in  Accadian,  meaning  *'a  son/' 
*'  a  child/'  born  after  a  time,  had  that  name  fitly  rendered 
in  a  Hebrew  sense,  whether  in  prospect,  or  afterward;  for 
his  brief  day  and  sad  end  were  to  show  that  life  is  only 
"vanity,"  and  its  joy  at  best  "a  breath."  When  the  first 
ohild  came,  Eve  had  a  living  miracle  before  her,  which 
seemed  to  promise  her  as  much  future  comfort  as  it  gave 
her  present  delight.  "  She  had  gotten  a  man  from 
Jehovah/'  she  had  something  to  wean  her  mind  from  her 
great  sorrow;  something  to  love,  watch  over,  and  weary 
herself  in  fond  endearments  towards.  But  the  bright 
morning  was  to  be  overclouded  ere  noon. 

After  a  time,  we  are  told,  when  the  two  had  grown  to 
be  men,  they  chose  their  callings  in  life — Cain  turning  to 
agriculture ;  Abel  to  the  simple  pursuits  of  a  pastoral  life. 
No  interval  of  "  utter  degeneracy  "  is  sanctioned  in  the 
Scripture  account  of  the  first  men ;  no  dismal  age  of 
living  on  roots  and  shell  fish,  or  the  produce  of  the  chase, 
as  naked  savages ;  they  begin  in  Eden,  to  work  it  and 
watch  it;  ^  after  the  Fall  they  turn  to  the  tillage  of  the 
field,  and  the  rearing  and  tending  of  sheep;*''  occupations 
from  which  an  advance  to  other  forms  of  civilization  was 
easy. 

The  two  brothers,  as  often  happens,  grew  up  with  very 
different  natures:  the  elder, a  sullen,  self-willed,  haughty, 
vindictive  man;  wanting  the  religious  element  in  his 
character,  and  defiant  even  in  his  attitude  towards  God. 

*  The  word  qin  in  Accadian  means  a  "  possession ; "  but  also 
a*'  slave."     Lenormant,  Lettrea  Assyriologiques,  vol.  ii.  pp.  15,  16. 

a  Gen.  n.  15.    (Heb.) 

■  The  word  translated  sheep,  Gen.  iv.  2,  includes  also  goats 
that  is  "the  smaller  cattle." 


THE    DESCENDANTS   OF   ADAM, 


175 


A-bel,  it  is  implied,  was  the  very  reverse ;  the  life  he  led, 
tending  meek  flocks,  a  type  of  his  own  character.  Such 
opposite  natures — pride  and  humility,  fierceness  and  meek- 
ness, could  hardly  live  well  together,  for  the  good  of  the 
one  must  have  seemed  a  constant  reproach  to  the  other. 

Long  brooding  jealousy  and  dislike  at  last  broke  out 
into  a  flame,  only  too  fatally.  After  a  time, — literally, 
after  days,  perhaps  on  the  Sabbath,  or  on  the  first  day 
of  the  year,  the  brothers  brought,  it  may  be  to  *'  The 
presence  of  the  Lord"  between  the  cherubim,^  their 
offerings  to  Jehovah ;  the  one,  perchance,  to  thank  Him 
for  His  blessing  on  field  and  flocks ;  the  other  in  grate- 
ful acknowledgment  of  the  fruits  of  harvest.  Cain 
presented,  as  was  common  in  later  times,  an  offering  of 
the  growth  and  fruits  of  his  land  ;  Abel,  of  the  first- 
born of  his  flocks,  and  of  the  fat, — which,  in  after  ages 
also,  was  specially  esteemed  in  sacrifices.  No  altar  is 
mentioned,  but  one  is  necessarily  implied.  Cain  how- 
ever and  his  offering,  found  no  favour  with  God,  while 
Abel  and  his  were  accepted,  perhaps  by  fire  descend- 
ing on  it  from  heaven.  I^he  state  of  heart  in  each 
towards  God  determined  the  result.  Abel  had  loving 
faith  ^  in  God  and  His  promise  of  mercy,  and  it  is  to 
be  presumed  that  Cain  had  not ;  for  instead  of  lowly 
sorrow  at  his  rejection,  there  burned  in  him  the  fiercest 
bitterness  and  indignation,  so  that  "his  countenance 
fell."  "  Why  art  thou  wroth  ?  "  whispered  God  into  his 
soul,  as  He  does  so  often  to  us  all,  "  and  why  is  thy 
countenance  fallen  ?  If  thou  doest  well  is  not  gladness 
(of  countenance)  thine  ?  If  with  heart  and  deed  thou 
seekest  what  is  good,  thou  wilt  have  joy;  but  if  thou 
doest  evil, — not  only  hast  thou  sadness  ;  sin  lies  crouch- 

*  See  McGaviu's  Scripture  Characters,  p.  22. 
«  Heb.  xi.  4 


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176 


THE   DESCENDANTS   OF  ADAM. 


insc,  like  a  wild  beast,  at  the  door,  to  spring  on  thee  and 
master  thee,  who  shouldst  master  it/'  ^  Bat  the  proud 
heart  kept  its  grudge  sullenly,  and,  in  a  fit  of  passion . 
soon  after  embrued  the  hands  of  the  unhappy  one  in  his 
brother's  blood. 

Some  of  the  legends  of  the  death  of  Abel  are  very 
touching.  One  day,  says  one  of  them,  he  was  asleep 
on  a  mountain,  and  Cain  took  a  stone  and  crushed  his 
head.  Then  he  threw  the  corpse  on  his  back,  and 
carried  it  about,  not  knowing  what  to  do  with  it ;  but  he 
saw  two  crows  fighting,  and  one  killed  the  other,  on  which 
the  crow  that  lived  dug  a  hole  in  the  earth  with  his  beak, 
and  buried  the  dead  bird.  But  Cain  said,  "  I  shall  learn 
sense  from  this  bird;  I,  too,  will  bury  my  brother  in 
the  ground.''  And  he  did  so.  "  After  Abel  was  slain," 
says  another,  "the  dog  which  had  kept  his  sheep 
guarded  his  body,  and  Adam  and  Eve  sat  beside  it  and 
knew  not  what  to  do.  Then  said  a  raven,  whose  friend 
was  dead,  '  I  will  teach  Adam  a  lesson,'  and  he  dug  a 
hole  in  the  soil,  and  laid  his  friend  there,  and  covered 
him  up.  And  when  Adam  saw  it,  he  said  to  Eve,  '  We 
will  do  the  same  with  Abel,'  and  God  rewarded  the 
raven  for  this,  by  promising  that  none  should  ever  injure 
its  young,  that  it  should  always  have  meat  in  abundance. 


1  I 


*  Dillmann's  andEwald's  Translations.  See  also  Ges.  Thes.,  714, 
p.  1259.  Kamphausen  {Studien  und  Kritiken,  1860,  p.  120)  para- 
phrases the  patisage  as  follows:  "God  thinks  nothing  of  the 
outward  worth  of  the  giffc,  whether  you  bring  what  you  think 
better  than  you  have  now  offered,  or  present  only  thy  field-fruits 
which  you  wrongly  think  have  caused  your  rejection  by  their 
not  being  acceptable.  God  looks  only  at  the  heart.  Guide  thy- 
gelf  by  this  in  the  future.  But  your  heart,  as  your  conscience 
tells  you,  is  already  so  corrupt,  that  sin  like  a  fierce  beast  threatens 
presently  to  destroy  thee  altogether."  See  Lenorinant's  OrUjinea, 
p.  169. 


THE   DESCENDANTS   OF  ADAM. 


177 


and    that   its   prayer   for   rain   should   be    immediately 
answered/'^ 

Nothing  could  mark  more  vividly  the  progress  of  evil 
in  the  human  heart  than  Cain's  bearing  t-fter  his  crime, 
of  which  banishment  from  the  home  of  Adam  was  the 
punishment.  The  land  of  Nod,  to  which  he  directed  his 
steps,  has  been  thought  to  be  some  remote  eastern  part 
of  Asia,  but  even  this  is  simply  conjecture.  The  most  we 
know  is  that  it  was  on  the  east  of  Eden.  Thither  he 
carried  with  him  a  sign  by  which  he  should  feel  himself 
safe  from  the  avenger  of  blood,  but  what  it  was  we 
cannot  tell.  Some  say  that  his  tongue  turned  white, 
others  that  he  had  a  particular  dress  assigned  him  ;  some 
that  his  face  grew  black;  but  others  that  he  became 
covered  with  hair  and  that  a  horn  grew  out  of  his  fore- 
head. "The  Holy  One  took  one  of  the  twenty- two 
letters  which  are  in  the  law,''  says  Rabbi  Johanan,  "  and 
wrote  it  on  the  arm  of  Cain."  Another  Rabbi,  however, 
puts  it  more  touchingly,  that  the  sign  was  a  symbol  of 
pardon  set  by  God  on  his  brow,  after  his  deep  penitence 
and  contrition.  Gesenius,  less  imaginatively,  but  more 
practically,  translates  it  simply,  that  "  God  gave  him  a 


sign. 


>n 


The  expulsion  from  Eden  was  already  an  event  so 
distant,  that  children  born  to  Adam,  or,  perhaps,  even  to 
his  children,  had  grown  into  manhood,  and  a  community 
had  gradually  been  formed.  A  band  from  this  fled  with 
the  banished  one  to  Nod,  the  land  of  exile,'^  and  there  the 
insecurity  of  their  position  led  to  the  first  gathering  into 
town  life ;  which  was  now  the  more  necessary,  since  the 
ground  had  been  cursed  as  regarded  Cain,  and  he  had 
been  doomed  to  be  a  wanderer  and  a  fugitive  in  the 
earth.     He  hoped,  it  may  be,  to  mitigate  his  lot  by  the 

'  Pirl-e  B.  FdiezeVf  c.  xxi.   Koran,  cap.  v.     '  Thesaurus,  p.  119. 
VOL.   1.  II 


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178 


THE    DESCENDANTS   OF  ADAM. 


fixity  and  protection  of  a  central  settlement.  Poets  have 
described  the  first  city  as  vying  with  the  glories  of 
Babylon  or  Nineveh,  but  it  is  far  more  likely  that  a 
very  lowly  ideal  would  be  nearer  the  truth.  Macaulay  ^ 
imagines  it  to  have  been  very  magnificent. 

From  all  its  threescore  gates  the  light 

Of  gold  and  steel  afar  were  thrown ; 

Two  hundred  cubits  rose,  in  height, 

The  outer  wall  of  polished  stone. 

On  the  top  was  ample  space 

For  a  gallant  chariot  race. 

Near  either  parapet  a  bed 

Of  the  richest  mould  was  spread. 
Where,  amidst  flowers  of  every  scent  and  hue, 
Eich  orange  trees,  and  palms,  and  giant  cedars  grew. 

Menials  and  guards;  marble  cisterns  foaming  with 
wine  at  great  feasts;  troops  of  dancing  girls;  chosen 
captains  arrayed  in  glittering  panoply,  and  all  the  splen- 
dour of  a  magnificent  court,  with  armies,  slaves,  painted 
galleys,  and  the  thousand  wondrous  details  of  Oriental 
greatness  exalt  the  glory  of  its  builder.  At  the  marriage 
of  his  daughter  Ahirad  with  the  eldest  born  son  of  Seth, 
the  royal  halls  display  an — 

endless  avenue  of  light, 

The  bowers  of  tulip,  rose,  and  palm, 

The  thousand  cressets  fed  with  balm. 

The  silken  vests,  the  boards  piled  high 

With  amber,  gold,  and  ivory ; 

The  crystal  fount,  whence  sparkling  flow 

The  richest  wines  o'er  beds  of  snow. 

The  walls  where  blaze  in  living  dyes 

The  king's  three  hundred  victories. 

*  #  *  *  • 

With  naked  swords  and  shields  of  gold. 
Stood  the  seven  princes  of  the  iril)es  of  Nod; 

^  The  Marriage  of  Tirzali  and  Ahirad. 


THE  DESCENDANTS   OF  ADAM. 


179 


Upon  an  ermine  carpet  lay 
Two  tiger  cubs  in  furious  play, 
Beneath  the  emerald  throne  where  sat  the  signed  of  God.* 

But  this,  doubtless,  is  mere  poetical  license.  It  is 
much  more  likely  that  "  the  city  "  was  simply  an  aggre- 
gate of  huts  or  tents,  strengthened  against  attack  from 
wild  beasts  by  a  rude  stockade.* 

A  few  names  and  one  or  two  isolated  and  brief  notices 
comprise  all  we  really  know  of  Cain  and  his  descendants. 
Scripture  had  for  its  object  to  trace  the  development  of 
the  kingdom  of  God ;  not  the  history  of  outside  nations. 
But  the  little  recorded  speaks  of  a  condition  far  removed 
from  the  "  degradation  "  which  some  scientific  men  have 
assumed  as  that  of  the  first  man.  Instead  of  burrowing 
in  the  ground,  or  living  in  hollow  trees  or  caves,  and 
sustaining  themselves  on  the  meanest  subsistence,  Cain's 
tilling  the  ground  implies  the  use  of  corn  and  other 
cultivated  plants ;  while  AbePs  sacrifice,  and  off'ering  the 
fat  as  the  selected  portion,  hints  at  the  rest  being  taken 
as  food;  for  the  remains  of  sacrifices  have  in  all  ages 
been  consumed  by  the  offerers.  Jewish  and  Moham- 
medan legends  alike,  refer  the  gift  of  the  corn  plants  to 
the  pity  of  God  on  Adam's  repentance ;  Gabriel,  it  is  said, 
having  been  sent  to  him  with  wheat  from  Paradise,  and 
having  taught  him  how  to  sow  and  reap  it  and  make 
bread.  ^  He  showed  him  besides,  continues  the  legend, 
how  to  slay  a  lamb  in  the  name  of  God,  to  shear  off"  the 
wool  and  skin  the  carcass,  and  then  instructed  Eve  to 
spin  and  weave  the  wool. 

It  may  be  that  the  legend  of  Cain's  repentance  finds 

*  The  "sign"  Macaulay  ^;aints  as  a  "  fierce  and  blood-rod  light,*' 
like  a  star,  which  blazed  on  Cain's  "  ample  forehead  white." 
3  Ges.,  Thes.,  p.  1005. 
'  Baling  Gould's  Old  Testament  Legends,  vol.  i .  p.  66. 


Mi 


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180 


THB   DESCENDANTS  OF  ADAM. 


corroboration  in  the  name  of  his  first-bom  son  Enoch,  or 
Hanoch,  which  coraes  from  two  roots,  "  to  teach,"  and  "to 
consecrate."  Perhaps  the  unhappy  man,  like  many  an 
ungodly  parent  since,  wished  that,  whatever  he  was  him- 
solC,  his  son  at  least  should  be  religious.  It  may  be  that 
he  "  consecrated  "  him  to  the  God  against  whom  he  him- 
Sfjlf  had  so  grievously  sinned.  But,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  name  may  simply  refer  to  Hanoch's  being  the  first  to 
teach  men  the  culture  of  city  life,  or  the  elements  of 
p  jysical  knowledge.  Irad,  ^  "  the  swift  one/'  who  comes 
next,  points  perhaps  to  a  hunter's  life.  Mehujael,  "  the 
stricken  of  God,"  hints  darkly  at  further  judgments  for 
deepening  corruption ;  but  Methusael,  in  strong  contrast, 
brings  before  us  one  who  could  be  known  as  the  "  Cham- 
pion of  El ;"  as  if,  even  among  the  race  of  Cain,  God  had 
not  left  Himself  without  a  witness.  But  with  Lamech, 
"  the  striker  down,"  "  the  wild  man,"  the  gleam  of  light 
once  more  fades ;  as  even  in  those  days  the  grace  seen 
in  the  father  too  often  disappears  in  the  child.  A  new 
floodgate  of  evil  is  now  opened,  for  with  Lamech  begins 
polygamy.  One  wife  had  been  created  foi*  Adam,  and, 
hitherto,  had  been  the  rule ;  but  "  the  wild  man  "  takes 
two,  and  thus  introduces  a  usage  which,  more  than  any 
other,  corrupts  society  where  it  prevails.  That  it  should 
have  been  thus  ascribed  to  the  race  of  Cain  is  significant; 
for  though  it  afterwards  existed  in  Israel,  it  was  always 
the  exception.  The  law  permitted,  but  did  not  favour  it ; 
and  even  kings  were  forbidden  to  have  many  wives.* 
Lamech's  family  history  gives  us  a  momentary  glimpse 
into  these  long  dead  ages.  His  one  wife,  Adah,  shows  in 
her  name  that  "  beauty  "  had  already  asserted  its  power  j 
but  that  of  his  other  wife,  Zillah,  seems  to  hint  at 
the  light  from  Eden  having  still  lingered  in  a  measure 
*  Yiiad,  Gen.  iv.  14  ^  Dent.  xvii.  17. 


THE    DESCENDANTS   OF  ADAM. 


181 


even  in  Nod,  for  it  appears  to  mean  that  hor  ''shade ''  or 
protector  is  none  other  than  God.  Sucli  a  shade  was,  in- 
deed, sorely  needed  in  those  days  of  deepen iii<^  evil,  and 
it  may  be  she  sought  it  even  amidst  such  an  ungodly 
race. 

Abel  had  already  kept  flocks,  but  only  of  sheep  and 
goats,  and  had  tended  them  in  the  pastures  around  his 
father's  dwelling.  But  now,  a  son  of  Adah,  Jabal, — "the 
wanderer'' — took  to  a  purely  pastoral  life  ;  which  involved 
his  passing  from  place  to  place  with  his  herds  of  cattle, 
and  it  may  be  of  asses  and  camels.  Among  these  he 
necessarily  had  to  live,  and  hence  arose  the  moveable 
tent,  which  nomads  have  used  ever  since.  Her  second 
son — Jubal,  "the  player," — his  very  name  an  imita- 
tion of  the  lingering  sound  of  his  notes, — added  to  the 
charms  of  life  the  wondrous  power  of  music ;  learned,  per- 
haps in  the  quiet  shepherd  life  his  brother  had  begun. 
"  He  was  the  father,"  says  the  record,  "  of  all  such  as 
use  the  lyre  and  the  pipe.'-'  The  sweet  vibrations  of 
stringed  instruments  and  the  soft  tones  of  the  flute,  in  its 
earliest  simplicity,  must  thus  have  waked  delight  in  the 
very  first  generations  of  men.  But  Zillah,  also,  had  a 
son ;  one,  possibly  of  many ;  whose  gifts  to  the  race,  if 
in  one  light  of  priceless  value ;  in  their  abuse  were  to 
be  the  symbol  of  immeasurable  evil.  Tubal- Cain,  "  the 
smith,"  was  "a  sharpener  or  hammerer  out^  of  all  cutting 
instruments  of  copper  and  iron;"  the  coulter  of  the  plough, 
it  may  be,  on  the  one  hand,  but  on  the  other,  the  sword 
and  spear.  It  is  in  keeping  with  the  first  mention  of 
deadly  weapons  that  their  worst  use  is  noticed  as  presently 
boasted.  Armed  by  his  son's  invention,  Lamech  "the 
wild  man,"  the  picture  of  a  violent  and  darkening  age, 
and  the  pitiless  hero  of  the  revengeful  of  after  days,  in 

»  Ges.,  Thes.,  p.  630. 


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182 


TUE   DESCENDANTS   OF  ADAM. 


his  joy  at  his  new  weapons,  cries  aloud  to  hi?,  wives,  in 
words  which  seem  to  have  come  down  to  us  as  a  fragment 
of  ancient  song — 

Ada  and  Zillah !  *  hear  my  speech, 
Ye  wives  of  Lamech,  mark  my  words  t 
I  have  killed  a  man  in  return  for  a  blow; 
A  young  man,  in  return  for  a  stroke ; 
Cain,  they  say,  if  killed,  was  to  be  revenged  seven  times, 
But  Lamech  (as  this  may  show)  will  be  revenged  seventy 
times  seven.' 

The  curtain  falls  on  the  race  of  Cain  with  this  picture 
of  savage  ferocity,  glorying  in  revenge,  and  mei'ciless  in 
its  fury.  What  nations  sprang  from  this  earliest  separa- 
tion of  the  human  family  is  not  told  us;  for  there  is  no 
hint,  even  in  the  names  of  Cain's  descendants  that  have 
survived. 

Scripture  was  more  concerned  with  the  story  of  another 
branch  of  the  great  stream  of  life ;  that  of  the  race  of  Seth, 
whose  name  appears  as  that'of  a  third  son  of  Adam.  His 
name,  "  the  replacer,''  speaks  of  the  joy  of  Eve  at  the 
birtji  of  another  child,  in  the  room  of  the  gentle  Abel;  and 
she  had  the  still  greater  joy  to  find  that  he  grew  up  to 
inherit  Abel's  spirit.     In  due  time  he  himself  had  a  son, 

*  Condemnation  of  revenge  and  also  of  polygamy  is  the  moral 
lesson  of  this  snatch  of  fierce  song.  Adam  has  one  wife ;  this 
descendant  of  Cain  introduces  the  custom  of  having  more  than 
one,  and  that,  fitly,  on  the  eve  of  t|je  Deluge.  There  is  here  a 
formal  condemnation  of  this  sin,  just  as  in  Gen.  ii.  24,  a  Di;iue 
sanction  is  given  to  monogamy. 

'  See  Ewald's  Geschichte,  vol.  i.  p.  382.  I  have  paraphrased 
rather  than  closely  translated  the  words.  Gosenius  (Thes.)  trans- 
lates it,  "  I  have  killed  a  man  on  account  of  a  wound  inHicted 
on  me,  a  young  man  for  the  blow  (he  gave  me)."  S.  do  Sacy's 
version  is,  "  I  have  slain  a  man  because  he  had  wounded  mog 
and  a  young  man  because  he  had  bruised  me." 


THE   DUSOEMDANTS   OF   ADAM. 


isa 


Enosh,  "a  man,'*  who  was  destined  to  mark  a  permanent 
Bnd  mighty  ailvaiico  in  the  future  religious  history  of 
the  worUl.  Eve  had  spoken  of  God  as  Klohim ;  with 
Enosh  men  began  to  worship  him  as  Jehovah. i  Cain  and 
Abel  had  worshipped  with  offerings  and  sacrifices ;  per- 
haps in  some  rude  sanctuary,  outside  the  door  of  which 
sin  still  crouoliod,  in  secret,  to  spring  on  them  again. 
Enosh  introduces  public  supplication ;  for  wo  can  scarcely 
doubt  that  men  had  already  called  upon  God  in  private. 
The  form  was  now,  once  again,  quickened  by  the  spirit 
of  religion,  which  was  henceforth  owned  as  not  only  a 
ceremonial  act,  but  an  inner  life. 

The  descendants  of  Adam  through  Seth  are  given  in 
ten  generations;  but  when  wo  remember  that,  in  the 
genealogies  of  our  Lord,  St.  Matthew  reckons  only  twenty- 
eight  steps  from  David  to  the  Incarnation,  while  St.  Luke 
gives  us  forty-three,  it  is  easy  to  fancy  that  many  may 
have  been  omitted  in  this  case  also.  To  Enosh,  we  are 
told,  was  born  Cainan,  "  my  child ;"  to  Cainan,  Mahalaleel, 
"El  (God)  in  His  glory ; "  to  him,  Jared,^  perhaps  "the 
swift  one ; "  to  him,  again,  Enoch,  the  same  name  as  that 
of  a  son  of  Cain ;  but  in  this  case  "  the  teacher,"  *'  the 
consecrated  one,''  in  a  worthy  sense ;  for  while  tradition 
ascribes  to  him  the  instruction  of  mankind  in  human 
science.  Scripture  speaks  of  him  as  so  exceptionally 
holy,  that,  like  Elijah  afterwards,  he  was  spared  the  pains 
of  death,  and  taken  while  still  alive,  to  God.  Like  Abel 
he  died  early,  for  shortness  of  life  is  far  from  marking 
Divine  displeasure.     "  He  was  not  found,"  says  the  sacred 

'  Gen.  iv.  26.  See  Speaker's  Bible;  Tuch ;  Knohel;  Hitpfeld ; 
Oehler;  Delitzsch ;  Hofmann.  The  word  translated  "  the  Lord  " 
in  our  A.  V.  is  always  "  Jehovah  "  in  the  Hebrew. 

'  Jared  is  different  in  spelling  from  Irad  the  grandson  of  Cain, 
but  they  seem  to  come  from  the  same  root. 


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181 


THK    DKUCKNDANT8   OF  ADAM. 


ii 


writer,  "because  God  had  translated  liim;"  words  which 
evidently  imply  a  belief  in  our  imtnortulity,  at  least  among 
the  race  of  Seth,  from  the  very  first. i 

If  Enoch's  life  was  shorter  than  that  of  any  otlior 
patriarch,  the  blessing  on  the  houauliold  of  the  righte- 
ous was  abundantly  ilUistrated  in  Methuaeluh,  who  is 
recorded  as  having  lived  909  years.  Whether  we  are 
to  think  that  the  original  vitality  of  the  human  frame 
faded  only  by  slow  degrees  j  or  whether  there  was  some- 
thing salubrious  in  the  air  of  the  ages  after  Eden,  has 
often  been  asked,  but  can  never  be  answered.  Some 
have  fancied  that  the  immense  lives  ascribed  to  the 
antediluvians  imply  that  each  name  represents  a  tribe, 
the  lives  of  whose  leading  members  are  added  together ; 
others  have  understood  the  years  to  mean  only  months  j 
while  others  have  sought  to  prove  that  from  Adam  to 
Abraham  the  year  had  no  more  than  three  months,  from 
Abraham  to  Joseph  eight,  and  from  Joseph's  time  twelve 
months,  as  at  present.^  But  such  explanations  have  no 
sufficient  warrant,  and  it  is  perhaps  best,  on  the  whole, 
to  keep  in  mind  what  Bishop  Harold  Browne  has  pointed 
out ;  that  "  numbers  and  dates  are  liable  in  the  course 
of  ages  to  become  obscured  and  exaggerated."  ^  It  is 
quite  possible  that  some  of  the  early  Rabbis,  desirous 
of  emulating  the  fabled  age  ascribed  by  heathen  nations 
to  their  heroes  and  demigods,  may  have  added  to  the 
Bible  figures,  so  as  to  secure  the  patriarchs  an  equal 
honour.      Our  present  bodies,  certainly,  could  not  live 

*  The  Book  of  Enoch, from  which  I  have  elsewhere  quoted  freely, 
is  sufficient  proof  of  the  superstitious  reverence  in  which  iho 
great  patiiarch's  name  was  held  even  by  the  later  Jews. 

*  Von  Bohlen's  Die  Genesis,  pp.  65-67.  Aids  to  Faiih,  p.  270 
Kalisch,  On  Genesis,  p.  110.     Knobel,Die  Genesis,  p.  69.  v 

*  Speaker's  Commentary,  vol.  i.  p.  62.  " 


THK   DKSCENDANTS   OF  ADAM. 


185 


more  than  two  hundred  years,  at  the  very  most,  from 
the  <l('C!iy  of  one  part  after  another,  and  honco  wo  must 
citlier  tako  Bishop  Browne's  solution  of  antediluvian 
lonjj^evity,  or  suppose  thai  exceptional  circumstances  in 
the  first  ix^i^H  produced  exceptional  results. 

Mothusaleli,  "  the  man  of  the  spear  "  or  "  of  the  bow," 
a  strange  name  for  the  son  of  the  heavenly  minded 
Enoch,  is  followed  by  a  second  Lamech;  but  whether 
his  name,  "  the  wild  man/*  or  "  the  plunderer/'  throws 
any  li<^ht  on  his  character  and  life  is  not  told  us.  All 
wo  know  is,  that  from  him  sprang  one  who  was  to  find 
favour  with  God  in  the  midst  of  a  world  from  which 
good  had  well-nigh  departed.  It  is,  indeed,  perhaps  to 
this  well-nigh  universal  corruption  that  Methuselah  and 
Lamech  owe  their  names.  It  was  a  sad  time.  The  earth, 
cursed  by  God,  bore  its  harvests,  as  now,  only  after  weary 
toil.  The  almost  spontaneous  fruitfulness  of  Eden  had 
been  lost,  and  Lamech  might  well  look  forward  to  the 
help  to  be  rendered  by  his  newborn  son  Noah,  as  "a 
comfort "  to  him,  in  lightening  his  toil.  Little,  however, 
did  he  dream  what  that  son  should  see  ere  he  died  I  * 

*  It  is  very  curious  to  notice  how  widely  the  number  ton  pre- 
vails as  that  of  the  first  generations  of  men.  The  Bible  reckons 
ten  from  Creation  to  the  Flood.  The  Iranians  had  ten  kings,  "  the 
men  of  the  ancient  law '"  who  lived  on  the  pure  bomaor  immortal 
draught  of  the  gods,  and  kept  their  purity.  Among  the  Hindoos 
thoie  are  ten  "  Fathers,"  the  children  of  Brahma.  Among  the 
Geimans  and  Scandinavians  there  were  ten  ancestors  of  Odin. 
Among  the  Chinese,  ten  emperors  shared  divine  honour  before 
the  dawn  of  history,  and  the  Arabs  have  ten  fabled  kings  of  the 
region  between  the  Red  Sea  and  the  Persian  Gulf.  * 

The  similarity  in  the  two  lists  of  the  first  generations  of  men 
through  Adam  by  Cain  on  the  one  side,  and  through  Seth  by 


'  •1,11 


t, 

■I 
4 


li 


'it" 

'  ^^ -I 
■  !•'  I 


m, 


*  Lenormant,  Manuel  d'Bistoire  Ancienne,  vol.  i.  p.  19. 
(April  1880),  p.  570. 


Contemp.  Rev, 


:  ]■ 


' 


^m     11  III 


! 


186 


THE  DECENDANTS  OF  ADAM. 


Euos  on  tiie  other,  has  often  attracted  attention.    They  stand  aa 
follows  : 


Through  Adam. 

Adam = The  man. 

Qa'in  (Cain). 

Hanoch  (Enoch). 

Yirad  (Irad). 

Me'huiaei  (Mehujael). 

Methushael  (Methusael). 

Lemecli  (Lamech). 

Yabal.      Yubal.      Thubal. 

(Jabal).     (Jubal).     (Tubal). 


Through  Enos. 

Enoa-Theman. 

Qenati  (Cainan). 

Mahalaleel. 

Yered  (Jared). 

Hanoch  (Enoch). 

Methushela'h  (Methuselah). 

Lemech  (Lamech). 

Noah. 

Shem.  Ham.  Yapheth  (Japheth). 


Lenormant  points  out  that  these  names  have  an  entirely  dif- 
ferent meaning  in  the  two  lists:  an  unfavourable  one  in  that 
through  Cain;  a  favourable  one  in  that  through  Seth.  Thus 
Me'huiaei  is,  he  says,  "  smitten  of  God,"  and  corresponds  to 
Mahalaleel,  "  praise  or  splendour  of  God."  Yirad,  the  *'  fugitive," 
is  the  counterpart  of  Yered,  "  descent,"  or  rather  "  service." 
Hanoch  means,  in  both  lists,  *'  initiator,"  "  teacher,"  but  in  the 
one  list  it  is  initiator  into  material  and  profane  arts;  in  the 
other,  into  religious  truth  and  spiritual  life. — Contemporary  Re- 
view (April  1880),  p.  667. 

In  his  Origines  de  VHistoire,  Lenormant  finds  in  the  name  of 
the  Assyrian  month  Sivan — the  month  of  bricks— and  the  fact 
that  its  zodiacal  sign  is  The  Twins,  a  reminiscence  of  Cain's 
fratricide,  and  of  the  founding  of  the  first  city.  Phenician  tra- 
dition speaks  of  the  first  men  as  having  invented  bricks  mixed 
with  chopped  straw,  and  dried  in  the  sun.  M.  Lenormant 
collects  a  striking  list  of  cities  in  antiquity,  with  the  founding  of 
which  the  murder  of  a  brother  is  associated.  He  thinks  Cain's 
ofiering  was  rejected  and  Abel's  accepted  because  the  latter  was  a 
sacrifice ;  the  other  only  an  ofiering.  The  word  "  Eobetz  "  =  lieth 
(Gen.  iv.  7),  he  tells  us,  is  related  to  the  Assyrian  "Rabitz,"  a  class 
of  demons  who  hide  and  spring  on  their  victim.  Evil  spirits 
were  imagined  as  often  lying  hidden  at  the  door  of  a  houee,  ready 
to  leap  on  a  man  when  he  came  out  unsuspectingly.  See  pp, 
140-171. 


'VJte- 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


THE   FLOOD. 

IT  is  one  of  the  most  remarkable,  and  at  tlie  same  time 
pleasing,  corroborations  of  the  early  narratives  of 
Scripture,  that  they  are  found  to  be  repeated,  in  sub- 
stance, often  with  surprising  exactness  of  detail,  by  the 
traditions  and  primitive  records  of  the  most  widely 
separate  countries  and  races.  This  is  especially  seen  ii. 
the  echoes  of  the  story  of  the  Flood,  which  meet  us  from 
every  age  and  region. 

The  notice  of  this  appalling  and  unique  catastrophe, 
which  has  thus  imprinted  itself  on  the  memory  of  the 
world  from  the  most  ancient  times,  is  fitly  introduced  by 
a  statement  of  the  condition  of  things  among  mankind, 
which  drew  down  such  an  awful  punishment.  Evil  had 
grown  rampant,  and  threatened  utterly  to  extirpate  good 
from  the  world.  The  immediate  cause  of  this  portentous 
corruption  is,  moreover,  stated  ;  though  in  language  so 
dark,  from  its  metaphorical  expression,  that  endless 
controversy  has  risen  as  to  the  meaning  of  some  essential 
words.  "  There  were  giants  on  the  earth,''  it  is  said,  *'  in 
those  days;''  but  the  name  means  only  "famous"  men, 
whether  for  stature  or  deeds,  though  they  may  have  been 
of  unusual  size.  Some  races,  especially  when  the  ener- 
vating influences  of   an    artificial  civilization    have  not 

-  187         .  •• 


m 


t  if 


M 
( 


-I  ?.; 


BBBI 


188 


THE   FLOOD. 


deteriorated  them,  have  shown  this  peculiarity  in  historic 
times ;  as  for  example  the  Oimbri  and  Teutons  of  antiquity, 
and  the  Pomeranians  of  the  present  day.  It  is  added 
that  *'  the  sons  of  God "  allied  themselves  with  "  the 
daughters  of  men/'  and  that  their  children  became 
mighty  and  renowned  men.  ^  By  the  "giants,"  or 
"  nephilim/'  seem  to  be  meant  a  race  of  violent  chiefs, 
who  made  themselves  great  names  by  deeds  of  war, 
filling  the  earth  with  violence.  They  may  have  been  of 
gigantic  size,  like  those  to  whom  the  same  name  is  after- 
wards applied  in  Palestine,  ^  but  it  is  not  necessarily 
implied.^  Opinions  have  differed  greatly  as  to  the  mean- 
ing of  the  name  "  Sons  of  God,"  or  rather,  of  "  Elohim." 
The  Eabbis,  as  was  natural,  from  their  love  of  the  mar- 
vellous, took  for  granted  that  the  fallen  angels  are  meant; 
since  "  nephilim "  is  derived  from  the  verb  "  to  fall." 
Hence  Apocryphal  Jewish  literature  assumes  this  con- 
stantly, while  not  a  few  writers  of  the  most  opposite  schools 
still  support  this  explanation,  which,  nevertheless,  seems 
fanciful  and  ungrounded.  The  giants  are  not  said  to 
have  been  "  the  sons  of  Elohim,"  and  their  name  may 
as  fitly  be  explained  as  referring  to  their  "falling  upon  " 
their  fellow  men,  as  by  any  mysterious  connection  with 


'  Gen.  vi.  4 

2  Deut.  ii.  10  ff.,  20 ;  iil  11.     Amos  ii.  9 ;  etc. 

•  It  has  been  suggested,  by  Movers  and  others,  including  even 
a  wi  iter  in  the  Dictionaiy  of  the  Bible,  that  the  application  of  the 
same  name  to  a  race  in  Palestine,  argues  that  they  were  descen- 
dants from  the  "giants"  of  Gen.  vi.  But,  as  Ewald  rightly 
notes,  it  is  not  their  historical  name,  but  one  simply  pointing 
out  a  physical  characteristic,  not  confined  to  any  one  people. 
If  we  were  to  call  the  Patagonians  "  giants,"  it  surely  would  not 
make  them  descendants  of  those  so-called  in  Genesis.  There 
is  hence  no  proof  from  this,  as  has  been  fancied,  that  others 
besides  Noah  and  his  family  survived  the  Flood. 


THE  FLOOD. 


189 


the  rebel  angels.  Nor  does  the  nauie  "  sons  of  Elohim/' 
necessarily  refer  to  angels  at  all ;  for  the  word  Eloliim  is 
used,  elsewhere,  in  Scripture,  of  men.  Thus,  in  Psalm 
Ixxxii.  1,  wo  read  that  God  "judges  in  t)  midst  of  the 
Elohira,"  who  are  shown  in  the  next  verse  to  be  those 
who  "judge  unjustly,  and  accept  the  persons  of  the 
wicked."  ^  The  name  is  evidently  given  them  from  their 
office ;  in  which  they  represented,  in  Idrael,  the  supreme 
judge  of  the  nation — Jehovah.  Jewish  interpreters 
generally  adopt  this  meaning  of  the  passage ;  believing 
that  the  "  great "  or  "  mighty  "  sons  of  Cain  are  con- 
trasted with  the  lowlier  daughters  of  Seth.  *  It  is,  more- 
over, very  doubtful  if  the  word  be  ever  applied  in  the 
Old  Testament  to  angels.^  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  con- 
tinually used  of  heathen  idols,  and  hence  it  may  well 
point  in  this  particular  cade  to  intermarriages  between 
the  adherents  of  idolatry*  and  the  daughters  of  the  race 
of  Seth,  and  a  consequent  spread  of  heathenism,  far  and 

*  Elohim  is  applied  to  judges  in  I  Sam.  ii.  25.  Bunsen,  Bihel 
Urknnden,  vol.  i.  p.  52,  repudiates  the  idea  of  angels  being  intended 
by  the  "  sons  of  God,"  as  not  in  any  measure  an  Asiatic,  far  less 
a  Hebrew  conception.  It  is,  he  says,  simply  a  piece  of  Greek 
Polytheism.  Lord  Macaulay,  in  his  poem,  The  Marriage  of  Tirzah 
and  Ahirad,  has  the  same  idea  as  Hirsch.     See  next  page. 

2  Ruetschi,  in  Herzog,  vol.  xiii.  p.  40. 

'  See  the  word,  in  8th  edition  of  Gesenius'  Lexicon^  1878. 

*  The  use  of  "  son  "  for  "  disciple,'  or  "  worshipper  "  is  common 
in  Scripture.  Thus,  "the  sons  o\  the  prophets."  The  Jews  are 
often  called  "  the  sons  of  God,"  Isaiah  1.  2 ;  xliii.  6.  Jer.  iii.  14, 
19.  It  was  the  same  with  other  nations.  Benhadad  means  the 
soil  or  worsliipper  of  Hadad  or  Adod,  the  chief  divinity  of  the 
Syrians.  The  disciples  of  the  Magi  in  Persia  were  called  their 
"sons,"  and  the  same  usage  was  common  among  the  Greeks. 
The  Syrians  also  spoke  of  the  sons,  or  diaeipics,  of  Bardesaues. 
The  godly  are  called  in  Malacbi  ii.  15,  the  children,  or  seed  of 
Elohim.  .  i 


m 


I'l, 

•rill'. 


I 


^ 


Iff' 

7- 


%\ 


'i 


1 

1  if' ' 

vW 

ii> 

i 

1 

y 

1 

190 


THE    FLOOD. 


near,  witK  its  attenrlanfc  violence  and  moral  debasement.^ 
If,  however,  by  "  the  sons  of  Elohim  "  we  understand  the 
worshippers  of  Jehovah,  the  "  daughters  of  men  "  would 
mean  those  of  the  race  of  Cain.  This  interpretation, 
indeed,  is  now  very  generally  adopted,  and  seems  the 
most  natural.  We  should,  then,  read,  "  the  sons  of  the 
godly  race  "  took  wives  of  "  the  daughters  of  men."  ^ 

The  children  of  such  marriages  sadly  increased  the  pre- 
vaihng  corruption.  They  became ''^itfeonm,"  or  fierce 
and  cruel  chiefs,  filling  the  world  with  blood  and  tumult.^ 
It  was  to  prevent  the  final  triumph  of  evil.  Scripture  tells 
us,  that  the  Deluge  was  sent  from  God. 

That  such  a  terrible  and  all-destructive  visitation  hap- 
pened, is  corroborated,  as  has  been  said,  by  the  traditions 
of  all  races.  Among  these  the  most  famous,  perhaps, 
are  the  Chaldean,  which  arei  preserved  in  fragments  of 
Berosus,  a  priest  of  Babylon,  who  lived  about  two  hun- 
dred and  sixty  years  before  Christ ;  *  and  also,  on  the 
tablets  recovered  from  the  ruins  of  Nineveh. 

The  account  of  Berosus  is,  briefly,  as  follows :  '*  The 
great  Deluge  took  place  urder  Xisuthros.  The  god  Ea 
appeared  to  him  in  a  dream,  and  announced  that  on  the 

*  See  Schenkel,  in  Bibel  Lexicon,  art.  Nephilim. 

*  Hirsch,  Der  Pentateuch,  vol.  i.  p.  121. 

*  Hirsch's  explanation  of  "  My  Spirit  shall  not  always  strive 
with  men,"  etc.  is  worth  notice.  He  translates  it,  "  My  Spiiit 
shall  not  always  judge  in  man."  That  is,  Conscience,  which  h,  as 
Hirsch  puts  it,  the  breath  of  God,  will  more  and  more  lose  its 
power  in  the  earth.  Evil  will  more  and  more  prevail,  because 
men  are  only  flesh,  now — that  is,  corrupt.  Yet  I  shall  delay  my 
wrath  for  120  years.    Der  Pentateuch,  on  the  verse. 

*  Brockhaus'  Lexicon,  art.  Berosus.  Bunsen  in  his  Bibel 
Urhunden,  quotes  the  passages  in  full,  from  Eusebius  and  Sjn- 
cellus.  They  are  given  at  length,  also,  by  Lenormant,  in  his  Essay 
on  the  Deluge. 


THE  FLOOD. 


191 


15th  of  the  month  of  Daisios  (a  little  before  the  summer 
solstice),  all  men  should  perish  by  a  flood.  He  was 
therefore  to  collect  all  that  was  consigned  to  writing,  and 
bury  it  at  Sippara — the  city  of  the  Sun.  There,  he  was 
to  build  a  vessel  and  to  enter  into  it  with  his  family 
and  dearest  friends ;  and  he  was  to  cause  animals,  birds 
and  quadrupeds,  to  enter  with  him,  taking  sufiBcient  pro- 
vision. He  was,  moreover,  to  prepare  everything  for 
navigation.  And  when  Xisuthros  asked  in  what  direc- 
tion he  should  steer,  he  was  told — towards  the  gods — 
and  enjoined  to  pray  that  good  might  come  of  it  for 
men. 

"  Xisuthros,  on  this,  obeyed,  and  constructed  a  vessel 
five  stadia  long  (3,033  feet  9  inches)  and  two  broad 
(1,213  feet  6  inches) ;  and  having  brought  together  all 
that  had  been  ordered,  went  into  it  with  his  wife,  his 
children,  and  his  intimate  friends. 

''The  Deluge  having  come,  and  soon  going  down, 
Xisuthros  loosed  some  of  the  birds;  but  these,  finding  no 
food,  nor  place  to  alight,  returned  to  the  ship.  A  few 
days  later  he  again  set  them  free,  but  they  returned, 
their  feet  stained  with  mud.  Sent  oflf  a  third  time,  they 
never  came  back.  Xisuthros  from  this  understood  that 
the  earth  was  bare,  and  having  made  an  opening  in  the 
roof  of  the  ship,  saw  that  it  had  grounded  on  the  top 
of  a  mountain.  He  then  descended  with  his  wife,  his 
daughter,  and  his  pilot,  and  having  worshipped  the  earth, 
raised  an  altar  and  sacrificed  to  the  gods.  At  the  same 
moment  he  vanished,  with  those  who  accompanied  him. 

"Meanwhile,  those  who  had  remained  in  the  vessel, 
finding  he  did  not  return,  descended  and  began  to 
seek  him,  calling  him  by  name.  But  they  saw  Xisuthros 
no  more.  A  voice  from  heaven,  however,  was  heard, 
commanding  that  they  should  be  pious  towards  the  gods, 


*\  'it! 


!■■■  *il 


l'3,>w 


'it*'! 


■m 


192 


THE    FLOOD. 


n 


and  telling  them  that  he  had  received  the  reward  of 
his  piety,  by  being  carried  away  to  dwell  henceforth  in 
the  midst  of  the  gods,  and  -that  his  wife,  his  daughter, 
and  the  pilot  of  the  ship,  shared  the  same  honour.  The 
voice  further  said  that  they  were  to  return  to  Babylon, 
and  dig  up  the  writings  buried  at  Sippara ;  to  transmit 
them  to  after  generations.  The  country  in  which  they 
found  themselves  was  Armenia.  They,  then,  having 
heard  the  voice,  sacrificed  to  the  gods  and  returned  on 
foot  to  Babylon.  Of  the  vessel  of  Xisuthros,  a  portion  is 
still  to  be  found  in  the  Gordyan  Mountains  in  Armenia, 
and  pilgrims  bring  thence  asphalte  which  they  have 
scraped  from  its  fragments.  It  is  used  to  keep  off  the 
influence  of  witchcraft.'* 

Thus  far  Berosus.  The  version  given  by  the  cunei- 
form tablets  is  fuller.  The  story  is  related  by  the 
patriarch  Khasisatra,  who  has  been  saved  from  the 
deluge,  to  Izdhubar,  a  hero,  who,  having  been  smitten 
with  leprosy,  goes  to  the  distant  land  to  wh'sh  the  gods 
have  transported  Khasisatra,  to  consult  him  as  to  a  cure. 
There  are  three  copies  of  the  tablets  on  which  the  legend 
is  given,  all  made  by  order  of  the  same  king  of  Assyria, 
Assurbanipal,  in  the  seventh  century  B.C.,  from  a  very 
ancient  original  in  the  priestly  library  of  Erech ;  a  town 
founded  in  the  early  days  of  the  first  Chaldean  empiie. 
This  venerable  copy  could  not  have  been  of  later  date 
than  seventeen  centuries  B.C.,  but  probably  was  older; 
so  that  it  carries  us  back  beyond  the  time  of  Moses, 
perhaps  even  to  Abraham's  day.  Nor  is  this  all,  for 
the  variations  in  the  three  existing  copies  prove  that 
the  one  from  which  they  were  transcribed  had  itself 
been  taken  from  a  still  older  manuscript,  of  which 
the  original  text  ha(i  received  interlinear  comments. 
Some  of  the  copy istSv  have  introduced  these  into  the 


THE    FLOOD. 


193 


text :  others  have  omitted  them,  and  the  narrative  is 
thus  carried  back  to  an  age  which  may  well  be  believed 
contemporary  with  the  survivors  of  the  Flood  itself,  so 
that  it  is  thus  one  of  the  oldest  documents  as  yet  known. 
Lenormant's  translation,  which  embodies  the  latest  ad- 
vances of  cuneiform  philology,  is  as  follows : — 

"  I  will  reveal  to  thee,  0  Izdhubar,  the  history  of  my 
preservation,  and  tell  thee  the  decision  of  the  gods. 
The  town  of  Shurippak,  which  thou  knowest,  is  on  the 
Euphrates.  It  was  ancient,  and  in  it  [men  did  not 
honour]  the  gods.  I  alone  was  a  servant  of  tht.  great 
gods.  [The  gods  took  counsel  on  the  appeal  of] 
Anu: — [a  deluge  was  proposed  by]  Bel  [and  approved 
by  Nabon,  Nergal,  and]  Adar. 

"And  the  God  [Ea]  the  immutable  lord— repeated 
this  command  in  a  dream.  ...  *  Man  of  Shurippak 
— buiFd  a  vessel  and  finish  it  [quickly],  I  will  destroy 
life  and  substance  [by  a  deluge] .  Cause  thou  to  go  up 
into  the  vessel  the  substance  of  all  that  has  life.  The 
vessel  thou  shalt  build — 600  cubits  shall  be  the  measure 
of  its  length,  and  60  the  measure  of  its  breadth  and  of 
its  height.  [Launch  it]  thus  on  the  ocean,  and  cover  it 
with  a  roof.'  I  understood,  and  said  to  Ea,  '  My  lord, 
[the  vessel]  that  thou  commandest  me  to  build  thus, 
when  I  shall  build  it,  young  and  old  [shall  laugh  at  me] . 
[Ka  opened  his  mouth  and]  spoke;  *  [If  they  laugh  at 
thee]  thou  shalt  say  to  them.  He  who  has  insulted  m© 
[shall  be  punished],  [for  the  protection  of  the  gods]  is 
over  me.'  '  I  will  exercise  my  judgment  on  that  which 
is  on  high  and  that  which  is  below.  ,  .  .  Close 
the  vessel.  .  .  .  Enter  into  it  and  draw  the  door 
of  the  ship  toward  thee.  Within  it,  thy  grain,  thy 
furniture,  thy  provisions,  thy  riches,  thy  menservants, 
thy  maidservants,  and  thy  youig  people — the  cattle  of 


'  m 

m 
■id 


VOL.    I. 


& 


194 


THE   FLOOD. 


the  field,  and  tho  wild  beasts  of  the  plain,  which  I  will 
assoinblo  and  send  to  thee,  shall  be  kept  behind  thy  door.* 
.  .  .  On  tho  fifth  day  [the  two  sides  of  the  bark]  were 
raised.  The  rafters  in  its  covering  were,  in  all,  fourteen. 
I  placed  its  roof  and  I  covered  it.  I  embarked  in  it  on 
the  sixth  day;  I  divided  its  floors  on  the  seventh,  I 
divided  the  interior  compartments  on  the  eighth.  I 
stopped  up  the  chinks  through  which  the  water  entered 
in.  I  poured  on  the  outside  three  times  3,600  measures 
of  asphalte;  and  three  times  3,600  measures  of  asphalte 
within.  Three  times  3,600  men,  porters,  brought  on 
their  heads  the  chests  of  provisions.  I  kept  3,600  chests 
for  the  nourishment  of  my  family,  and  the  mariners 
"  divided  among  them  twice  3,600  chests.  For  [provision- 
ing] 1  had  oxen  slain ;  I  appointed  rations  for  each  day. 
In  [anticipation  of  the  need  of]  drinks,  of  barrels  and  of 
wine,  [I  collected  in  quantity]  like  to  the  waters  of  a 
river ;  [of  provisions]  in  quantity  like  to  the  dust  of  the 
earth.     ... 

"All  that  I  possessed  I  gathered  together — of  silver,  of 

gold ;  of  the  substance  of  life  of  every  kind.     I  made  my 

servants,  male  and  female,  the  cattle  of  the  fields,  the 

.  wild  beasts  of  the  plains,  and  the  sons  of  the  people,  all 

ascend [  into  the  ship]. 

"  Shamas  [the  sun]  fixed  the  moment,  and  he  an- 
nounced it  in  these  terms  :  '  In  the  evening  I  will  cause 
it  to  rain  abundantly  from  heaven ;  enter  into  the  vessel 
and  close  the  door.'  .  •  .  When  the  evening  of  the 
day  arrived  I  was  afraid — I  entered  into  my  vessel  and 
shut  my  door,  and  then  confided  to  the  pilot  this  dwell- 
ing, with  all  that  it  contained. 

"Mu-sheri-ina-namari^  rose  from  the  foundations  of 
heaven  in  a  black  cloud;  Ramnian*  thundered  in  the 

1  A  personification  of  rain.  *  The  god  of  thunder. 


THE   FLOODi 


195 


midst  of  the  cloud — Nabon  and  Shurru  marched  before 
— they  marched,  devastating  the  mountain  and  tlio 
plain.  Nergal,!  the  powerful,  dragged  chastisements 
after  him.  Adar*  advanced,  overthrowing  before  him. 
The  archangels  of  the  abyss  brought  destruction.  By 
their  terrors  they  agitated  the  earth.  The  flood  of  Ram- 
man  swelled  up  to  the  sky,  and  [the  earth],  grown 
dark,  became  like  a  desert. 

"  They  destroyed  the  living  beings  on  the  surface  of 
the  earth.  The  te  rible  Deluge  swelled  up  towards 
heaven.  The  brother  no  longer  saw  his  brother :  men 
no  longer  knew  each  other.  In  heaven  the  gods  became 
afraid  of  the  waterspouts,  and  sought  a  refuge — they 
mounted  up  to  the  heaven  of  Anu.^  The  gods  were 
stretched  out  motionless,  pressing  one  against  another, 
like  dogs.  Ishtar  wailed  like  a  child :  the  great  goddess 
pronounced  this  discourse :  '  Here  is  mankind  returned 
into  earth :  and  theirs  is  the  misfortune  I  have  announced 
in  presence  of  the  gods.'  .  .  .  '  I  am  the  mother 
who  gave  birth  to  men,  and  there  they  are,  filling  the 
sea  like  the  race  of  fishes ;  and  the  gods  on  their  seats, 
by  reason  of  that  which  the  archangels  of  the  abyss  are 
doing,  weep  with  me.'  The  gods  on  their  seats  were  in 
tears,  and  held  their  lips  closed,  [revolving]  things  to 
come. 

^'  Six  days  passed  and  as  many  nights  :  the  wind,  the 
waterspout  and  the  deluge-rain  were  in  all  their  strength. 
At  the  approach  of  the  seventh  day  the  deluge-rain  grew 
weaker — the  terrible  waterspout,  which  had  been  awful 
RS  an  earthquake,  grew  calm,  the  sea  began  to  dry  up, 
and  the  wind  and  the  waterspout  came  to  an  end,     I 

*  The  god  of  war  and  of  death. 

•  The  Ohaldee  and  Assyrian  Heroules. 
■  The  upper  heaven  of  the  fixed  stars. 


i's'"yi 


m 
i  m 


;    I 


Ig 


196 


THE   FLOOD. 


looked  at  the  sea,  attentively  observinj^,  and  the  whole 
race  of  men  had  returned  to  earth ;  the  corpses  floated 
like  seaweed.  I  opened  the  window  and  the  light  smote 
on  my  face.  I  was  seized  with  sadness ;  I  sat  down  and 
wept,  and  the  tears  came  over  my  face. 

"  I  looked  at  the  regions  bounding  the  sea,  towards 
the  twelve  points  of  the  horizon,  but  there  was  no  land. 
The  vessel  was  borne  above  the  land  of  Nizir — the 
mountains  of  Nizir  arrested  the  vessel,  and  did  not  per- 
mit it  to  pass  over.  For  six  days  they  thus  stopped  it. 
At  the  approach  of  the  seventh  day  I  sent  out  and  loosed 
a   dove.      The  dove  went,  turned,  and  found  no  place 


%. 


Noah  or  thb  abk,  ttith  MTinotooicAL  figvbbs  (thb  gods  bt  whou  thb  Flood 

HAD  BEBN  SENT  P)     FbOU  AIT  BABLY  J3Ai  YLOVIAIT  OTLINDBB. 

to  light  on,  and  came  back.  I  seat  out  and  loosed  a 
swallow ;  and  it  went,  turned,  and  finding  no  place  to 
light  on,  came  back.  I  sent  out  and  loosed  a,  raven; 
the  raven  went,  and  saw  the  corpses  on  the  waters ;  it^ 
ate,  rested,  turned,  and  came  not  back. 

"1  then  sent  out  [the  creatures  in  the  vessel]  towards 
the  four  winds,  and  offered  a  sacrifice.  I  raised  the 
pile  of  my  burnt-offering  on  the  peak  of  the  mountain. 
Seven  by  seven  I  laid  the  measured  vessels,^  and, 
beneath,  I  spread  rushes,  cedar-wood,  and  juniper.  The 
gods  were  seized   with  the  desire   of   it — with  a  bene- 

*  Vessels  or  vases  with  measured  contents,  for  the  offering. 


THE   FLOOD. 


197 


relent  desire  of  it ; — they  assembled  like  flies  above  tho 
master  of  the  sacrifice.  From  afar,  in  approaching,  the 
gi'cat  goddess  raised  the  great  zones  that  Anu  made  for 
the  glory  of  the  gods.^  These  gods,  luminous  as  crystal, 
I  will  never  leave — I  prayed,  in  that  day,  that  I  might 
never  leave  thera.  *  Let  the  gods  come  to  my  sacrificial 
pile  I  But  never  may  Bel  come  to  it,  for  he  did  not 
master  himself,  but  he  made  the  waterspout  for  the 
Deluge,  and  he  has  numbered  men  for  the  pit.' 

"  From  far,  in  drawing  near,  Bel  saw  the  vessel  and 
stopped.  He  was  filled  with  anger  against  the  gods  and 
against  the  heavenly  archangels. 

*' '  No  one  shall  come  out  alive  1  No  man  shall  be 
preserved  from  the  abyss.'  Adar  opened  his  mouth 
and  said — he  said  to  the  warrior  Bel,  '  Who  other  than 
Ea  should  have  formed  this  resolution  j  for  Ea  possesses 
knowledge  and  [he  preserves]  all.'  Ea  opened  his  mouth 
and  spake :  he  said  to  the  warrior  Bel,  '  O  thou,  herald  of 
the  gods,  warrior — as  thou  didst  not  master  thyself,  thou 
hast  made  the  waterspout  of  the  deluge.  Let  the  sinner 
carry  the  weight  of  his  sins ;  the  blasphemer  the  weight 
of  his  blasphemy.  Please  thyself  with  this  good  pleasure 
and  it  shall  never  be  infringed  ;  faith  in  it  [shall]  never 
[be  violated] .  Instead  of  thy  making  a  new  deluge,  let 
lions  and  hyaenas  appear  and  reduce  the  number  of  men ; 
let  there  be  famine,  and  let  the  earth  be  [devastated]  ; 
let  Dibbara^  appear,  and  let  men  be  mown  down.  I  have 
not  revealed  the  decision  of  the  great  gods  :-it  is  Khasi- 
satra  who  interpreted  a  dream  and  comprehended  what 
the  gods  had  decided.' 

"  Then,  when  his  resolve  [to  destroy  the  remnant  of 
men]  was  arrested,  Bel  entered  into  the  vessel,  and  tuok 

*  This  is  a  metaphorical  expression  for  the  rainbow. 

*  The  god  of  epidemics.  ^ 


it 


11' 


108 


THE   n.OOD. 


u 


) 


my  hand,  anrl  made  me  rise.  Ho  made  my  wife  rise  and 
plnco  heraolf  at  my  side.  Ho  walked  round  us  and 
stopped  short.  He  approached  our  group.  '  Until  now 
Kluisisatra  has  been  mortal,  but  now,  he  and  his  wife  are 
going  to  be  carried  away  to  live  like  the  gods,  and  he 
will  live  afar,  at  the  mouth  of  the  rivers.'  They  carried 
me  away,  and  established  me  in  a  remote  place,  at  the 
mouth  of  the  stream.'' 

Such  is  the  latest  and  most  perfect  translation  of  this 
wonderful  legend,  from  which  only  a  few  words  of  repeti- 
tion have  been  omitted.  The  points  of  resemblance  and 
of  contrast  with  the  Bible  narrative,  both  in  it  and  the 
shorter  version  of  Berosus,  appear  on  the  surface.  Nothing 
is  said  in  Scripture  of  the  burial  of  writings,  and  there  is 
no  trace  of  the  polytheism  which  disfigures  both  accounts. 
The  length  of  the  ark  in  Berosus  is,  to  its  breadth,  as 
5  to  2 ;  in  Genesis,  it  is  as  6  to  1 ;  in  the  tablets,  as  10 
to  1.  In  Berosus  and  the  tablets,  instead  of  a  simple 
patriarch  like  Noah,  we  have  a  king ;  and  instead  of  a 
single  family  alone  being  saved,  we  have  friends,  servants, 
and  young  people  in  the  ark,  with  all  the  royal  treasures. 
In  the  tablets  the  deluge  lasted  only  six  days  and  nights, 
in  Genesis  it  lasted  forty  days  and  nights,  and  it  was,  in 
all,  a  hundred  and  fifty  days  before  the  waters  had  dis- 
appeared. In  the  Bible  it  is  said  that  seven  pairs  of 
clean  beasts  were  taken  and  one  pair  of  unclean ;  in  the 
Chaldean  accounts  there  is  no  mention  of  clean  or  unclean. 
Sharaas  (the  Sun  god),  is  represented  as  saying  "  Enter 
into  the  vessel  and  close  the  door."  The  Bible  says, 
''And  Jehovah  shut  him  in."  The  Chaldean  account  has 
a  pilot;  there  is  none  in  that  of  Genesis ;  but  in  both  the 
ark  is  coated  with  bitumen.  According  to  the  tablets, 
there  were  let  loose  a  dove,  a  swallow,  and  a  raven ;  in 
Genesis^  a  raven  and  a  dove.     In  the  tablets  and  Genesis, 


THB   FLOOD. 


109 


alike,  the  rainbow  appears  as  a  sign  of  Divine  satiafaclion 
with  a  HJun-ifioe  ofVernl  after  the  flood  had  passed  off,  and 
ill  both  there  is  an  assurance  that  the  earth  should  never 
i\(rii'\n  he  visited  witli  the  saino  form  of  destruction.  T!io 
issue,  however,  is  diil'oreut  with  regard  to  those  saved. 
Oa  the  tablets  and  in  Borosus  some  are  taken  away  by 
the  ^{)ds ;  in  Genesis  they  remain  alive  to  repeoplo  the 
earth.  The  Chaldean  accounts  had  evidently  mingled 
the  story  of  Enoch  with  that  of  Noah. 

Wo  have  thus  an  independent  tradition,  of  the  highest 
antiquity,  recording  the  fact  of  a  great  deluge  having 
destroyed  all  the  human  race  except  a  favoured  few,  and 
that  as  a  punishment  for  their  sins.  But  this  tradition, 
though  like  that  of  Scripture  in  some  points,  is  yet  distinct 
from  it  in  its  whole  spirit  and  tone ;  for  though  both  como 
from  the  same  region  and  from  times  equally  remote, 
they  have  done  so  through  different  races. 

Ill  the  tract,  "  On  the  Syrian  Goddess/'  formerly 
attributed  to  Lucian,  we  learn  the  version  of  this  Chal- 
dean tradition  which  was  current  among  the  Syrians,  and 
through  them  introduced  to  the  West,  among  the  Greeka 
and  Komans.  "  When  I  asked  how  old  this  temple  was 
(that  of  the  Syrian  goddess,  at.  Hieropolis),"  says  the 
writer,  "  and  to  what  goddess  in  their  opinion  it  had  been 
consecrated,  I  received  many  explanations,  in  secret  and 
openly ;  some  out  of  the  way,  but  others  at  one  with  the 
Greek  opinion.  Most  said  that  Deucalion  from  Scythia, 
in  whose  days  the  terrible  flood  happened,  had  founded 
it.  Now  I  have  heard  the  history  of  Deucalion  from  the 
Greeks,  who  say  that  the  present  race  of  men  is  not  the 
first, — since  the  first  had  been  utterly  destroyed, — but 
had  sprung  from  Deucalion.  The  original  race,  they 
say,  were  violent  people,  guilty  of  much  that  was  wrong ; 
keeping  neither  their  oath  nor  observing  hospitality,  and 


■V,f 


:H 


:i 


•,:U 


►SI 


■  .i  -f HB 

■imM 


200 


THE    FLOOD. 


n  1 


sliowinf^  pity  on  no  one;  for  which  they  were  sorely 
punished.  The  earth  in  fact  opened  and  poured  out  much 
water ;  terrible  rains  fell ;  the  floods  rose  over  their 
banks,  and  the  sea  widened  its  shores,  till  the  waters 
covered  all  things  and  the  human  race  perished.  Deu- 
calion alone  survived,  on  account  of  his  wisdom  and 
piety,  to  restore  the  family  of  mankind.  The  way  he 
escaped  was  this.  He  built  a  great  ark,  in  which  he  put 
his  wives  and  children,  and  into  which  he  also  himself 
went.  At  the  same  time  there  came  swine,  horses,  lions, 
serpents,  and  all  other  beasts  which  the  earth  nourished, 
and  he  received  them  all  into  the  ark.  There,  they  did 
him  no  harm,  for  there  was  a  great  friendship  among  all, 
which  Jupiter  put  in  their  hearts,  and  thus  they  lived  in 
the  ark  as  long  as  the  waters  lasted.  This  is  the  story 
the  Greeks  tell  of  Deucalion.  The  Hieropolitans  add  to  it 
something  very  wonderful.  They  say  that  a  great  cleft 
opened  in  their  land  which  swallowed  up  all  the  waters, 
and  that,  after  this,  Deucalion  built  altars  and  raised  a 
temple  to  Juno,  over  the  cleft.  T  have  seen  it ;  it  is  very 
narrow  and  situated  under  the  temple.  Whether  it  was 
once  large  and  had  now  shrunk,  I  do  not  know ;  but  I 
have  seen  it  and  it  is  quite  small.  Now-a-days  they  bring 
water  twice  a  year  to  the  temple ;  not  only  the  priests, 
but  a  great  multitude  of  people  irom  all  Syria,  Arabia,  and 
from  beyond  the  Euphrates,  going  to  the  sea  and  fetching 
it.  They  then  pour  it  out  first  in  the  temple,  from  which 
it  runs  off  into  the  cleft.  They  do  this,  they  say,  in 
obedience  to  a  command  of  Deucalion,  in  remembrance 
of  the  calamity  suffered  and  of  the  escape  vouchsafed.'^  ^ 

A  passage  in  the  Bhagawata,  one  of  the  sacred  books 
of  India,  is  no  less  striking.  The  whole  earth,  we  are 
told,  was  covered  with  a  deluge,  and  all  men  destroyed 

^  Rosen miiller's  Das  Alte  und  Neue  MorgenJand,  vol.  i.  p.  27. 


THE   FLOOD. 


201 


except  the  tlien  reigning  king,  with  seven  holy  men  and 
their  wives.  And  it  happened  in  this  way.  The  king 
was  making  his  legal  washing  one  day  in  a  river,  when 
the  god  Vishnu  appeared  to  him  and  told  him  that  in 
seven  days  all  creatures  who  had  done  him  wrong  should 
be  destroyed  by  a  flood.  "  Thou,  however,''  the  god  con- 
tinued, "  shalt  be  saved  in  a  roomy,  wonderfully  built 
vessel.  Take  therefore  all  kinds  of  wholesome  plants  and 
g  ain  for  food,  and  also  the  seven  holy  men  j  your  own 
wives,  and  a  pair  of  all  kinds  of  animals.  Go  without 
fear  into  the  ark,  for  thou  shalt  see  me  face  to  face, 
and  all  thy  questions  will  be  answered.''  After  seven 
days  the  sea  rose  over  its  bounds,  and  then  the  prince 
saw  a  great  vessel  floating  on  the  waters.  Into  this  he 
entered,  following  carefully  the  commands  of  Vishnu, 
who,  in  the  form  of  a  great  fish,  dragged  along  the  ark 
by  means  of  a  great  sea-sei'pent,  which  ho  used  as  a  rope. 
A  demon  had  stolen  the  Vedas  from  Brahma,  but  after 
the  flood  Vishnu  killed  him,  and  having  got  the  Vedas 
back,  taught  the  king  heavenly  wisdom  from  them,  and 
appointed  him  to  be  the  king  of  the  new  world.^ 

There  are,  in  all,  four  versions  of  the  tradition  of  the 
Flood  known  in  Indian  literature,  but  it  has  been  pointed 
out  by  Eugene  Burnouf,  that  it  does  not  occur  in  the 
Vedic  hymns,  the  most  ancient  Sanscrit  writings,  and 
that  it  seems  to  have  been  a  foreign  importation,  of 
Semitic,  or  rather  Babylonian  origin,  in  very  remote, 
but,  still,  historical  times.  The  metamorphosis  of  Vishnu 
into  a  fish  is,  itself,  a  strong  corroboration  of  this,  for  there 
is  no  trace  of  fish  worship  in  India,  and  no  similar  legend 


m  '■ 


|:.    ■''    £ 


m 


i?<tv 


*  This  is  the  version  given  by  Rosenmuller.  A  shorter  one 
of  a  more  heathen  tone,  has  been  given  by  Max  Miiller  from 
another  Indian  source.  See  Contemporai'y  Review  (Nov.,  1879),  p 
477. 


202 


THE   FLOOD. 


or  allusion  in  its  myfliolog'y.  But  the  fish-god  was  a  pvo- 
miuent  deity  in  Babylon.  The  imago  of  the  god  1 1  who 
pljiys  so  prominent  a  part  in  the  Chaldean  legends  of  the 
Flood,  almost  invariably  combines  the  form  of  a  man  and 
a  fish,  like  the  god  Dagon,  which  was  an  importation 
from  Mesopotamia  to  the  shores  of  Palestine.  The  simi- 
larity of  the  Indian  tradition  to  that  of  Genesis,  in  the 
numbers  given,  is  striking.  Vishnu  gives  the  warning, 
"  In  seven  days  all  creatures  shall  be  destroyed,''  while 
Scripture  says, ''  Yet  seven  days  and  I  will  cause  it  to  rain 
upon  the  earth.''  "  In  seven  days  the  sea  rose  above  its 
bounds,"  says  the  Purana;  ''after  seven  days  the  waters 
of  the  flood  were  upon  the  earth,"  says  Genesis.  In  the 
same  way,  on  the  tablets,  the  flood  begins  on  the  even- 
ing of  the  seventh  day,  and  commences  to  abate  after 
seven  days.  Such  a  repeated  use  of  the  same  number 
seems  a  further  reason  for  believing  the  Indian  tradition 
to  have  come  from  the  same  region  as  the  legend  on  the 
tablets  and  the  account  in  Genesis. 

But  if  this  tradition  came  originally  from  the  Euphrates, 
those  of  other  races  show  versions  so  entirely  distinct, 
that  they  cannot  be  held  to  have  been  borrowed  from 
He*^rew  or  Chaldean  sources.  All  the  Aryan  races  had 
their  own — the  ancient  Persians,  the  Greeks,  the  Celts, 
the  Scandinavians,  "  They  say,"  says  Plutarch,  repeat- 
ing the  Greek  tradition,  ''that  a  dove  let  out  from 
the  ark  by  Deucalion,  showed  by  its  return  to  him  that 
the  waters  were  abating ;  and  again,  by  its  not  return- 
ing, that  the  skies  had  cleared."  M.  E.  Naville  has 
translated!  from  an  ancient  Egyptian  tomb -inscription, 
a  striking  narrative,  showing  that  that  strange  race 
also   had  their  tradition  of  a  destruction  of  mankind, 

*  Transactions  of  The  Society  of  Biblical  Archaeology,  vol.  iv. 
pp.  i-19. 


THE   FLOOD. 


203 


except  a  very  few,  designed  to  reprodnce  a  better  race. 
Tiie  calamity  comes  on  account  of  human  corruption. 
An  expiatory  sacrifice  after  the  visitation  appeases  the 
Divine  wrath,  and  a  solemn  covenant  is  made  between 
men  and  the  Deity,  who  swears  never  to  destroy  them 
again.  In  these  points  the  resemblance  to  the  Bible 
account  of  the  Flood  is  very  striking,  nor  is  it  strange 
that  tho  Egyptians,  to  whom  the  inundation  of  the  Nile 
was  the  symbol  of  prosperity  and  health,  should  have 
changed  the  mode  of  the  Divine  punishment  from  that 
of  a  flood  to  a  direct  destruction  from  above,  Or  have 
made  the  rise  of  the  Nile  a  sign  that  the  Divine  anger 
was  past. 


1^^ 


iv.j;i 


'i-H-It' 


!■  m 


mi 


CHAPTE'R  XIV. 
THE  FLOOD  {continued), 

IT  IS  a  singular  confirmation  of  the  Delu go  as  a  great 
historical  event,  that  it  is  thus  found  engraven  in 
the  memories  of  all  the  great  nations  of  antiquity ;  but 
it  is  still  more  striking  to  find  it  holding  a  place  in  the 
traditions  of  the  most  widely  spread  races  of  America, 
and  indeed  of  the  world  at  large.  Thus  Alfred  Maury, 
a  French  writer  of  immense  erudition,  speaks  of  it  as 
"  a  very  remarkable  fact,  that  we  find  in  America  tradi- 
tions of  the  Deluge  coming  infinitely  nearer  those  of  the 
Bible  and  of  the  Chaldean  religion  than  the  legends  of 
any  people  of  the  old  world." 

The  ancient  inhabitants  of  Mexico  had  many  variations 
of  the  legend  among  their  various  tribes.  In  some,  rude 
paintings  were  found  representing  the  Deluge.  Not  a 
few  believed  that  a  vulture  was  sent  out  of  the  ship, 
and  that,  like  the  raven  of  the  Chaldean  tablets,  it  did 
not  return,  but  fed  on  the  dead  bodies  of  the  drowned. 
Other  versions  say  that  a  humming  bird  alone,  out  of 
many  birds  sent  off,  returned  with  a  branch  covered  with 
leaves  in  its  beak.  Among  the  Cree  Indians  of  the  pre- 
sent day  in  the  Arctic  circle,  in  North  America,  Sir  John 
Richardson  found  similar  traces  of  the  great  tradition. 
"  The  Cruos,"  he  says,  *'  spoke  of  a  universal  Deluge, 

201 


THE    FLOOD. 


205 


caused  by  an  attempt  of  the  fish  to  drown  one  who  was 
a  kind  of  demigod,  with  whom  they  had  quarrelled. 
Having  constructed  a  raft,  he  embarked  with  his  family, 
and  all  kinds  of  birds  and  beasts.  After  the  flood  had 
continued  some  time,  he  ordered  several  \:aterfo\vls  to 
dive  to  the  bottom,  but  they  were  all  drowned.  A  musk 
rat,  however,  having  been  sent  on  the  same  errand,  was 
more  successful,  and  returned  with  a  mouthful  of  mud." 
From  other  tribes  in  every  part  of  America,  travellers 
Lave  brought  many  variations  of  the  same  world-wide 
tradition,  nor  are  even  the  scattered  islands  of  fche  Great 
Southern  Ocean  without  versions  of  their  own.  In 
Tahiti,  the  natives  used  to  tell  of  the  god  Ruahatu  having 
told  two  men,  "  who  were  at  sea,  fishing — Return  to  the 
shore,  and  tell  men  that  the  earth  will  be  covered  with 
water,  and  all  the  world  will  perish.  To-morrow 
morning  go  to  the  islet  called  Toamarama ;  it  will  be  a 
place  of  safety  for  you  and  your  children.  Then 
Ruahatu  caused  the  sea  to  cover  the  lands.  All  were 
covered,  and  all  men  perished  except  the  two  and  their 
families.*'  *  In  other  islands  we  find  legends  recording 
the  building  of  an  altar  after  the  Deluge ;  the  collection 
of  pairs  of  all  the  domestic  animals,  to  save  them, 
while  the  Fiji  islanders  give  the  number  of  the  human 
beings  saved,  as  eight  * 

Thus,  the  story  of  the  Deluge  is  a  universal  tradition 
among  all  branches  of  the  human  family,  with  the  one 
exception,  as  Lenormant^  tells  us,  of  the  black.     How 


.^' 


'.V 


^  Gaussin,  Du  Dialede  de  Tahiti,  etc.,  p.  256.     See  also  Ellis' 
Folynesian  Besaarclies,  vol.  ii.  pp.  67-59. 
^  Haidwick'a  Christ  and  other  Masters,  pt.  ii  j  p.  185.    ' 
'  M.  Lenormant  is  one  of  the  most  learned  men  of  France,  a 
devout  believer  in  Christianity,  and  a  resolute  defender  of  the 
Scriptures.     "  Africa,"  he  says,  "  has  no  traditions  of  the  flood." 


+'* 


206 


THE   FLOOD. 


M 


k'   1 


else  could  this  arise  but  from  the  ineradicable  remem- 
brance of  a  real  and  terrible  event.  It  must,  besides, 
have  happened  so  early  in  the  history  of  mankind  that 
the  story  of  it  could  spread  with  the  race  from  their 
orig-inal  cradle,  for  the  similarity  of  the  versions  over  the 
earth  point  to  a  common  source.  It  is,  moreover,  pre- 
served in  its  fullest  and  least  diluted  form  among  tho 
three  great  races,  which  are  the  ancestors  of  the  three 
great  families  of  mankind— 7 the  Aryans,  from  whom 
sprang  the  populations  of  India,  Persia,  and  Europe ;  the 
Turanians;  and  the  Semitic  stock,  who  were  the  pro- 
genitors of  the  Jew,  the  Arab,  and  other  related  races, 
including  the  Cushite  and  Egyptian.  These,  it  is  strik- 
ing to  note,  were  the  specially  civilized  peoples  of  the 
early  world,  and  must  have  learned  the  story  before  they 
separated  from  their  common  home  in  Western  Asia. 
"  Like  certain  families  of  the  vegetable  kingdom,"  says 
Humboldt  thoughtfully,  in  reference  to  this  subject, 
"which,  notwithstanding  the  diversity  of  climate  and 
the  influence  of  heights,  retain  the  impression  of  a  com- 
mon type,  these  traditions  of  nations  display  everywhere 
the  same  physiognomy,  and  preserve  features  of  re- 
semblance that  fill  us  with  astonishment.  How  many 
different  tongues,  belonging  to  branches  that  appear 
completely  distinct,  transmit  to  us  the  same  fact !  The 
bases  of  the  traditions  concerning  races  that  are  de- 
stroyed, and  the  renewal  of  nature,  scarcely  vary;  though 
every  nation  gives  them  a  local  colouring.  In  the  great 
continents  as  in  the  smallest  islands  of  the  Pacific  Ocean, 
it  is  always  on  the  loftiest  and  nearest  mountain  that  the 
remains  of  the  human  race  have  been  saved;  and  this 
event  appears  the  more  recent,  in  proportion  as  the 
nations  are  uncultivated,  and  as  the  knowledge  they  have 
of  their  own  existence  has  not  a  very  remote  date." 


THE   FLOOD. 


207 


The  precise  shape  of  the  ark  has  been  the  subject  of 
no  little  controversy.  The  Hebrew  word  for  it  is  ap- 
parently Egyptian,!  and  is  translated  in  the  Greek  ver- 
sion by  the  word  for  a  wooden  box,  chest,  or  coffer,* 
while  in  the  Vulgate  it  is  called  an  ark ;  that  is,  a  chest. 
The  Egyptian  word  means  a  chest,  or  coffer,  or  sarco- 
phagus ;  so  that  all  agree  in  the  idea  of  a  vessel  four 
cornered,  like  a  box;  if  we  are  to  understand  them 
literally.  J.  D.  Michaelis,  however,  with  his  delight  in 
new  opinions  and  his  vivid  acuteness,  was  very  unwilling 
to  think  it  could  have  been  a  mere  chest,  "  which  could 
hardly  float  on  the  sea,  and  stood  in  imminent  danger  of 
being  whirled  round  and  round  by  the  waves.''  "  Kibotos 
— the  Greek  word  " — says  he,  "  had,  assuredly,  various 
meanings  at  Alexandria.  For  example,  a  part  of  the 
harbour  bore  that  name,  but  in  common  Greek  it  especi- 
ally means  a  coffin  or  sarcophagus.  Could  it  have  meant 
in  Alexandria,  first  a  sarcophagus,  and  then  a  Nile-boat 
of  about  the  proportions  after  which  Noah's  ship  waa 
built  ?  The  old  Egyptians  bore  corpses  on  boats  to  the 
place  of  burial ;  the  boatman  was  called  Charon,  and  the 
fable  of  Charon's  boat  is  in  some  degree  of  Egyptian 
oriirin,  while  the  name — Charon's  Sea — still  survives  in 
Egypt.  Still  more,  whoever  has  seen  a  mummy  knows 
that  the  coffin  or  chest  in  which  it  lies  is  like  a  lonor 
boat,  though  from  the  thickness  of  the  wood  in  the 
middle  it  has  not  the  exact  proportions  of  Noah's  ark. 
Perhaps  the  Greek  translators  meant  by  Kibotos,  a  Nile 
boat,  named  from  such  a  mummy  coffin."  ^ 

He  then  goes  on  remark,  that,  "  In  the  beginning  of 
the  previous  century — the  seventeenth — a  ship  had  been 

»  Hebrew,  Tabah.     Old  Egyptian,  Teb,  Tebh,  Tep. 

*  KibotiOS. 

'  Orientalische  und  exegetische  Bihliothek  (1781),  vol.  xviii.  p.  22 


-'-ill 

m 


W   'I 


r'\^\. 


*'-  h\ 


%  7 'I 


I 


208 


THE   FLOOD. 


built  with  a  rounded  hull,  after  the  proportiona  given 
in  the  sixth  of  Genesis,  and  it  had  been  found,  to  the 
astonishment  of  all,  that  these  proportions,  given  in  the 
oldest  book  in  the  world,  were  precisely  the  most  ad- 
vantageous for  safety,  for  stowage,  and  even  for  swift- 
ness ! ''  "  George  Horn,"  he  continues,  "  Professor  of 
History  at  Leyden  in  the  last  century,  in  his  '  Compen- 
dium of  Universal  History,'  gives  the  name  of  a  person 
who  had  seen  this  ship,  which  was  called  xVoaA's  ArJi. 
At  the  time  of  the  truce  between  the  Spaniards  and  the 
Dutch,  in  1609,  there  lived  at  Hoorn,  in  North  Holland, 
a  Mennonist,  Peter  Jansen,  who  took  the  notion  that  he 
would  build  a  ship  of  the  same  proportions  as  Noah's 
ark,  only  smaller;  that  is,  120  feet  long,  20  feet  broad, 
and  12  high.  While  it  was  building  every  one  laughed  at 
him  j  but,  Dutchman-like,  he  kept  sturdily  on,  and  found, 
in  the  end,  that  it  justified  his  expectations.  For  when 
launched,  it  proved  to  bo  able  to  boar  a  third  more 
freight  than  other  ships  of  the  same  measurement,  re- 
quired no  more  hands  to  manage  it  than  they,  and  sailed 
far  faster.  The  result  was  that  the  Dutch  built  many 
others  like  it,  calling  them  Noah's  Arks,  and  they  only 
ceased  to  be  used  after  the  close  of  the  truce,  in  1621, 
because  they  could  not  carry  cannon,  and  thus  were  not 
safe  against  privateers  or  pirates."  1 

The  ark  is  said,  in  Genesis,*  to  have  rested  on  the 
mountains  of  Ararat;  not  on  a  mountain  called  Ararat,  as 
we  generally  assume.  The  word,  in  the  Assyrian  inscrip- 
tions, is  a  nam©  for  Armenia,  but  there  is  no  hint  of  any 
particular  mountain   bearing   the   name.^      The   special 

*  Orientalische  und  exegetische  Bihliotheh  (1781),  vol.  xviii.  p.  2P. 
^  Chap.  viii.  4. 

*  Schrader,  E.    Die  Keilinschriften  und   das  Alte  Testament^ 
p.  10  . 


THE    FLOOD. 


209 


a  in  the 
lost  ad- 
)r  swiffc- 
'essor  of 
!^ompen- 
i  person 
h's  ArJv. 

and  tho 
Holland, 

that  he 

Noah's 
t  broad, 
ighed  at 
i  found, 
or  when 
'd  more 
ent,  re- 
d  sailed 
many 
ley  only 
n  1621, 

ere  not 

on  the 

•arat,  as 

inscrip- 

o£  any 

special 

iii.  p.  28. 

sstament^ 


district  meant,  which,  indeed,  still  bears  the  ancient 
name,!  ig  one  bounded,  on  the  south,  by  a  high  cliain  of 
mountains  on  the  middle  course  of  the  Araxes,  a  river 
flowing  into  the  Caspian.  In  later  times  the  name  was 
given  to  the  mountains  themselves,  and  especially  to  their 
highest  summit,  which  rises  16,254  feet  above  the  sea, 
and  has  long  been  known  as  the  Greater  Mount  Ararat, 
while  another  peak  close  by,  4,000  feet  lower,  is  called 
the  Lesser  Ararat.  This,  however,  is  an  incorrect  trans- 
ference of  the  name ;  arising  no  doubt  from  the  transla- 
tion of  the  Hebrew  words  in  tho  Bible,  by  ''  the  moun- 
tains of  Ararat,"  instead  of  "  the  mountains  of  the  country 
of  Ararat."  In  Isaiah  xxxvii.  38,  the  Hebrew  words, 
"  the  land  of  Ararat,"*  are  translated,  "  land  of  Armenia," 
and  so,  in  2  Kings  xix.  37. 

The  mountain  now  known  as  Ararat  is  an  almost 
isolated  volcanic  cone,  and  has  been  ascended  by  Euro- 
peans at  various  times ;  the  last  who  reached  its  summit 
being  Professor  Bryce,  of  Oxford,  who  found  the  upper 
parts  often  difl&cult  to  climb,  from  the  softness  of  the 
ayliy  rock.  There  is,  however,  no  crater.  Strange  to 
say,  the  mountain  has  considerably  altered  in  shape  since 
1840;  an  earthquake  having  loosened  part  of  it  and 
hurled  it  down.^  Its  name  in  Armenia  is  Massis,  not 
Ararat.  Snow  lies  on  the  top,  but  it  is  not  at  all  neces- 
sary to  suppose  that  the  ark  rested  on  any  but  a  com- 
paratively low  point  of  the  range  of  which  it  forms  apart. 
The  Syrian  tradition  places  the  spot  in  Kurdistan,  in  the 
same  region,  though  more  to  the  south-west ;  but   the 

'  Gesenius*  Heh.  Handworterhuch  (8th  ed.,  1878),  p.  77. 
^  Ararat  means  "  the  plains  of  the  Aryans  "  in  Old  Armenian. 
Brock Imus'  Lexicon,  vol.  ii.  p.  60. 
^  Ihid.,  p.  61. 
VOL.   I.  .  P 


■  If/'  1 


^i. 


•  I 


1  V^H 


210 


THB   FLOOD. 


texts  of  Isaiah  and  Kings  already  quoted  are  opposed  to 
tins  being  the  locality.^ 

It  is  a  curious  fact  that  the  oleaster,  which  may  well 
have  supplied  the  "olivo  leaf"  of  Noah's  dove,  grows 
profusely  in  the  district  of  Ararat.*^ 

The  EXTENT  of  the  Deluge  has  long  been  a  subject  of 
keen  discussion.  Until  within  the  last  generation  its 
strict  universality  was  hardly  questioned.  Thus  we  find 
even  so  lately  as  in  the  notes  to  Bagstor's  **  Compre- 
hensive Bible;"  written,  it  may  be,  within  the  last  thirty 
or  forty  years,  that  "  the  evidence  of  its  universality 
is  most  incontestable.  The  moose  deer,  a  native  of 
America,  has  been  found  buried  in  Ireland;  elephants, 
nalives  of  Asia  and  Africa,  in  the  midst  of  England; 
crocodiles,  natives  of  the  Nile,  in  the  heart  of  Germany ; 
and  shell-fish,  never  known  in  any  but  the  American 
seas;  with  the  entire  skeletons  of  whales;  in  the  most 
inland  counties  of  England."  It  needs  hardly  be  said 
that  the  least  tincture  of  geological  knowledge  explodes 
the  V.  aole  of  this  string  of  illustrations.  The  date  of  all 
these  remains  is  inconceivably  more  remote  than  that  of 
the  Flood.  The  Irish  elk  is  not  the  American  moose; 
and  the  evidence  is  perfect  that  the  great  quadrupeds 
found  in  the  more  recent  formations,  or  in  the  superficial 
drift  in  England,  lived  as  well  as  died  where  they  are 
found,  and  that  the  climate,  as  well  as  the  flora  and  fauna, 
have  been  changed,  again  and  again,  over  all  the  earth. 
The  argument  of  the  writer  of  this  note  would  seek  to 
demonstrate  the  universality  of  the  flood  from  all  the 
fossil  remains  discovered ;  but  these  range  through  whole 
miles  of  rock,  of  many  kinds,  slowly  deposited  during 
Buccessive   geological   ages,  at  the  bottom    of   ancient 

*  Art.  Ararat,  in  Eiehm's  Bib,  Eand,.vdrterhuch, 
«  loid. 


THE    FLOOD. 


211 


ocoans  or  other  waters.  Surely  ib  will  not  bo  niainhii»H^d 
tlmt  a  flood  which  left  tho  leaf  on  an  olive-tree,  could  have 
formed  beds  of  rock  to  tho  thickness  of  mile  upon  mile; 
or  have  seen  the  creation  of  successive  types  of  animal 
and  vegetable  life,  from  the  corals  of  the  lowest  rocks, 
tlirouj^li  every  upward  stage,  to  the  highest.  But  the  idea 
needs  no  refutation.  It  is  at  best  a  curious  antiquarian 
reminiscence.  The  sketch  of  the  age  of  the  world,  given 
in  an  earlier  chapter,  will  show  its  complete  untenableness. 

In  1823  Professor  Buckland  published  his  "Reliquiae 
Diluvianae,"  to  vindicate  tho  Scripture  narrative,  by  a 
study  of  the  present  surface  of  the  earth.  The  existence 
of  huge  beds  of  gravel  in  positions  to  which  no  rivers 
or  torrents  now  in  existence  could  have  borno  them, 
and  the  fact  that  masses  of  rock  carried  far  from  their 
originsil  site,  are  found  strewn  over  and  through  them, 
were  tliought  proofs  of  the  passage  of  a  flood  like  that 
of  Notih  over  the  regions  where  they  occur.  It  has  been 
shown,  however,  that  this  gravel,  or  drift,  is  of  no  one  age, 
but  of  all  ages  ;  and  that  the  boulders  in  it  have  evidently 
been  transported  to  their  present  positions,  not  by  a 
sudden  rush  of  water,  but  by  icebergs  or  glaciers  ;  their 
surfaces  being  scratched  exactly  like  those  of  the  stones 
frozen  into  such  masses  of  moving  ice,  and  the  rocks 
over  which  they  pass.  The  retreat  of  the  ice  sheets 
that  at  various  times  covered  most  of  Britain,  and  the 
melting  of  icebergs ;  with  the  consequent  dropping  of 
the  boulders  frozen  into  them — sometimes,  even  now, 
amounting  to  20,000  tons  in  the  case  of  a  single  iceberg — 
sufficiently  and  convincingly  explained  all  the  pheno- 
mena met  with,  and  led  Dr.  Buckland  himself  to  admit 
that  his  argument  could  not  be  maintained. 

The  theories  that  have  at  different  times  been  pro- 
posed to  explain  the  Mosaic  deluge,  on  the  supposition  of 


II 


i 


I 


If 


I 


'tV 


212 


THE    FLOOD. 


O 


I 


its  boinj^  universal,  form  a  curious  chapter  in  tlio  liistorj 
of  literature.  Dr.  Hiirnet,*  in  his  *'  Theory  of  the  Earth/' 
published  in  1G80-1081),  supposes  that,  before  the  Dolugo, 
the  surfiicG  of  the  earth  was  perfectly  flat,  without  moun- 
tains, valleys,  or  seas,  and  that  its  interior  was  filled  with 
water.  The  outer  crust,  he  conceives,  became  so  heated 
by  the  sun,  after  a  time,  as  to  be  split  into  fissures 
through  which  the  waters  within,  expanded  by  the  heat, 
burst  out  with  tremendous  force,  drowning  all  the  race, 
and  leaving  the  crust  so  unsupported  that  7t  fell  together 
in  dire  confusion,  creating  on  the  one  hai:d  tho  vast 
hollows  of  the  present  oceans,  and  on  the  other,  raising 
the  hills  and  mountains  of  the  world ;  the  surplus  waters 
flowing  back  into  the  hollow  central  abyss.  By  such  a 
theory  he  hoped  to  account  for  the  vast  quantity  of  water 
required  for  a  universal  deluge;  which  he  reckoned  would 
be  eight  times  as  much  as  is  contained  in  our  present 
oceans  and  seas. 

Ray,*  a  naturalist  eminent  in  his  day,  adopted  this 
theory,  with  the  slight  change  of  supposing  the  final 
catastrophe  to  have  risen  from  a  shifting  of  the  earth's 
centre.  Dr.  Halley,^  the  astronomer,  however,  while  also 
adopting  it,  supposed — astronomer-like — that  the  shock  of 
a  comet  was  the  disturbing  force,  liut  all  these  theorists 
forgot  that  such  agencies  as  they  suggested  would  have 
caused  an  instantaneous  deluge,  not  a  gradual  one  like 
that  of  Genesis ;  nor  did  they  explain  how  Noah  could  be 

*  Thomas  Burnet,  born  1635,  a  Cambridge  M.A.  Born  is 
Yorkshire,  and  latterly  Master  of  the  Charter  House,  and  Clerk 
of  the  Closet  to  William  III.;  died  in  1715. 

*  John  Eay  or  Wray.  Studied  at  Cambridge,  died  in  1705. 
As  a  botanist  and  zoologist  he  ranks  very  high.  His  deluge 
theory  was  published  in  1692.  \ 

»  Edmund  Halley.    Born  1656,  died  1742.  . 


TUB   FLOOD. 


213 


navod  in  a  convulsion  w)iich  literally  tore  the  ejntli  in 
j)it'c('H.  Wliisto!),^  in  hia  "New  Theory  of  the  Earth," 
j)iil>lisli('(l  ill  109(3,  went,  indeed,  even  bo  fur,  after  cul- 
cii lilting  tliat  the  comet  of  1080  had  appeared  on  "  tho 
2(Sth  Nov.,  B.C.  1319,  fl^  to  publish  a  tract  wilh  the  title, 
*  T\w  Cause  of  the  Deluge  Deytionstrated.*  " 

The  Rev.  William  Kirby,  the  eminent  entomologist,  in 
his  old  age,  astonished  the  world  by  propounding  a  theory 
still  more  extravagant.  Not  only  did  he  believe  in  an 
abyss  of  waters  within  the  earth  ;  he  held  also  that  there 
was  a  subterranean  "  metropolis  of  animals,'*  where  the 
huge  saurians  of  the  oolite  and  lias  still  survive. 

Two  writers,  Mr.  Granville  Penn  and  Mr.  Fairholme, 
were  amongst  the  last  of  tho  long  list  of  worthy  men 
who  thought  fit  to  put  in  print  their  theories  of  a  uni- 
versal deluge.  They  supposed  that  between  the  Creation 
and  the  Flood — a  period  reckoned  as  1656  years — all  the 
fossiliferous  rocks,  that  is,  a  depth  of  six  miles  of  various 
rock-systems,  were  deposited  at  tho  bottom  of  the  ocean. 
By  the  Flood,  they  fancied,  these  were  raised  above  the 
level  of  the  waters  and  became  the  present  dry  land; 
the  origiual  surface,  including  the  Garden  of  Eden,  having 
been  submerged. 

Thou^rhtful  men  of  all  shades  of  religious  opinion  have, 
meanwhile,  come  to  the  opposite  conclusion;  that  the 
Noachian  Deluge  was  only  a  local  one,  though  sufficiently 
extensive  in  its  area  to  destroy  all  the  then  existing  race 
of  men.  In  support  of  this  view  many  arguments  have 
been  offered,  of  which  a  few  may  be  briefly  stated. 

The  stupendous  greatness  of  the  miracle  involved  in 
a  universal  deluge,  seems  a  strong  reason  to  doubt  tho 
likelihood  of  God   having  resorted  to  a  course  wholly 

*  Wra.  Whiston,  MA.,  Professor  at  Cambridge,  Translator  of 
Josephus.    Born  16(37,  died  1752. 


!  ^ 

'■1 


t  ; 


214 


THE   FLOOD. 


IH  i| 


unnecessary  to  effect  the  end  mainly  in  view — the  judof- 
ment  of  mankind  for  their  sins.  There  could  certainly 
be  no  apparent  reason  for  submerging  the  vast  propor- 
tion of  the  world  which  was  then  uninhabited,  or  of 
raising  the  waters  above  the  tops  of  mountains  to  which 
no  living  creature  could  approach.  It  is  to  be  remem- 
bered, moreover,  that  the  addition  of  such  a  vast  mass 
of  water  to  the  weight  of  the  earth — eight  times  that 
contained  in  the  ocean  beds — would  have  disarranged 
the  whole  solar  system,  and  even  the  other  systems  of 
worlds  through  the  universe;  for  all  are  interbalanced  with 
each  other  in  their  various  relations.  Then,  this  im- 
measurable volume  of  water,  after  having  served  its  brief 
use,  must  have  been  annihilated,  to  restore  the  harmony 
of  the  heavenly  motions :  the  only  instance  in  the  whole 
economy  of  nature  of  the  annihilation  of  even  a  particle 
of  matter.  Nor  could  any  part  of  either  the  animal  or 
vegetable  worlds  have  survived  a  submersion  of  the 
planet  for  a  year;  and  hence  every thingfi^xcept  what  the 
ark  contained,  must  have  perished ;  including  even  the 
fish ;  of  which  many  species  would  die  out  if  the  water 
were  fresh,  others,  if  it  were  brackish,  and  others,  again, 
if  it  were  salt. 

Men  of  the  soundest  orthodoxy  have  further  urged  that 
physical  evidences  still  exist  which  prove  that  the  Deluge 
could  only  have  been  local.  Thus  Professor  Henslow 
supports  De  Candolle's  estimate  of  the  age  of  some  of  the 
baobab  trees  of  Senegal  as  not  less  than  5,230  years,  and 
of  the  taxodium  of  Mexico  as  from  4,000  to  6,000;  periods 
which  carry  still  living  trees  beyond  that  of  the  Flood. 
There  is,  moreover,  in  Auvergne,  in  France,  a  district 
covered  with  extinct  volcanoes,  marked  by  cones  of 
pumice  stone,  ashes,  and  such  light  substances  as  could 
not  have  resisted  the  waters  of  the  Deluge.    Yet  they  are 


I- 


THE   FLOOD. 


215 


evidently  more  ancient  than  the  time  of  Noah ;  for  since 
they  became  extinct,  rivers  have  cat  channels  for  them- 
selves through  beds  of  columnar  basalt,  that  is,  of  intensely 
hard  crystallized  lava,  of  no  less  than  150  feet  in  thick- 
ness, and  have  even  eaten  into  the  granite  rocks  beneath. 
And  Auvergne  is  not  the  only  part  where  similar  pheno- 
mena are  seen.  They  are  found  in  the  Eifel  country  of  the 
Prussian  Rhine  province ;  in  New  Zealand,  and  elsewhere. 

Nor  is  the  peculiarity  of  some  regions  in  their  zoologi- 
cal characteristics  less  convincing.  Thus,  the  fauna  of 
Australia  is  entirely  exceptional ;  as,  for  example,  in  the 
strange  fact  that  quadrupeds  of  all  kinds  are  marsupial, 
that  is,  provided  with  a  pouch  in  which  to  carry  their 
youii^;.  The  fossil  remains  of  this  great  island  continent 
show,  moreover,  that  existing  species  are  the  direct 
descendants  of  similar  races,  of  extreme  antiquity,  and 
that  the  surface  of  Australia  is  the  oldest  laud,  of  any 
considerable  extent,  yet  discovered  on  the  globe — dating 
back  at  least  to  •^e  Tertiary  geological  age ;  since  which 
it  hps  not  been  disturbed  to  any  great  extent.  But  this 
carries  us  to  a  period  immensely  more  remote  than  Noah. 

Nor  is  it  possible  to  conceive  of  an  assemblage  of  all 
the  living  creatures  of  the  dififerent  regions  of  the  earth 
at  any  one  »pot.  The  unique  fauna  of  Australia — sur- 
vivors of  a  former  geological  age — certainly  could  ueither 
have  reached  the  ark  nor  regained  their  home  after  leav- 
ing it;  for  they  are  separated  from  the  nearest  continuous 
land  by  vast  breadths  of  ocean.  The  Polar  bear  surely 
could  not  survive  a  journey  from  his  native  icebergs  to 
the  sultry  plains  of  Mesopotamia ;  nor  could  the  animals  of 
South  America  have  reached  these  except  by  travelling 
the  whole  length,  northwards,  of  North  America,  and 
then,  after  miraculously  crossing  Bel i  ring's  Straits,  having 
pressed,  westwards,  across  the  whole  breadth  of  Asia,  a 


.  >;  I 


ij;,-;. 


•\m: 


216 


THE   FLOOD. 


i 

i' 

i 

1 

1 

continent  larger  than  the  moon.  That  even  a  deer  shonld 
accomplish  such  a  pedestrian  feat  is  inconceivable,  bat 
how  could  a  sloth  have  done  it — a  creature  which  lives  in 
trees,  never,  if  possible,  descending  to  the  ground,  and 
able  to  advance  on  it  only  by  the  slowest  and  most  pain- 
ful motions  ?  Or,  how  could  tropical  crt  itures  find  sup- 
plies of  food  in  passing  through  such  a  variety  of  climates, 
and  over  vast  spaces  of  hideous  desert  ? 

Still  more — how  could  any  vessel,  however  large,  have 
held  pairs  and  sevens  of  all  the  creatures  on  earth,  with 
food  for  a  year,  and  how  could  the  whole  family  of  Noah 
have  attended  to  them  ?  There  are  at  least  two  thousand 
mammals;  more  than  seven  thousand  kinds  of  birds; 
from  the  gigantic  ostrich  to  the  humming  bird ;  and  over 
fifteen  hundred  kinds  of  amphibious  animals  and  reptiles  ,i 
not  to  speak  of  120,000^  kinds  of  insects,  and  an  unknown 
multitude  of  varieties  of  infusoria.  Nor  does  this  include 
the  many  thousand  kinds  of  mollusca,  radiata,  and  fish. 
Even  if  the  ark,  as  has  been  supposed  by  one  writer, 
was  of  80,000  ton«  burden,^  such  a  freightage  needs  only 
be  mentioned  to  make  it  be  felt  impossible. 

Look  which  way  we  like,  gigantic  difficulties  meet 
us.  Thus,  Hugh  Miller*  has  noticed  that  it  would  have 
required  a  continuous  miracle  to  keep  alive  the  fish  for 
whom  the  deluge  water  was  unsuitable,  while  even 
spawn  would  perish  it  kept  unhatched  for  a  whole  year, 
as  that  of  many  fish  must  have  been.  Nor  would  the 
vegetable  world  have  fared  better  than  the  animal,  for 
of  the  100,000  known  species  of  plants,  very  few  would 
survive  a  year's  submersion. 

*  Schodler's  Buck  der  Natur,  vol.  ii.  p.  376. 

*  Brockhaus'  Lexicon,  art  Insecten. 

"\«.  •  Note  to  Bagster's  Comp.ehensive  BihUf  4to*  y 

*  Testimony  of  the  Bocks,  p.  337. 


honld 
3,  bat 
vea  in 
dif  and 
pain- 
d  sup- 
mates, 

),  have 
I,  with 
fNoah 
Dusand 
birds; 
id  over 
)tiles,i 
known 
includo 
d  fish, 
writer, 
is  only 

meet 

Id  have 

Lsh  for 

even 

year, 

lid  the 

lal,  for 

would 


THE    FLOOD, 


217 


That  a  terrible  catastrophe  like  that  of  the  Flood — apart 
from  the  all-sufficient  statements  of  Scripture — is  not 
outside  geological  probability,  is  abundantly  illustrated 
by  recorded  facts.  The  subsidence  and  upheaval  of  largo 
extents  of  country  has  already  been  noticed.  Nor  can 
we  justly  measure  the  quiet  of  the  present,  though  it  is 
only  comparative,  with  the  violence  of  periods  in  the  past. 
The  vast  chains  of  the  Himalayah,  the  Caucasus,  the 
Jura  mountains  and  the  Alps,  for  example,  were  all 
upheaved  in  the  Pliocene  period,  which  is  one  of  the 
most  recent  in  geology.^  A  subsidence  or  elevation  of  a 
district,  as  the  case  might  be,  would  cause  a  tremendous 
flood  over  vast  regions.^  Nor  are  auch  movements  of 
the  earth's  surface  on  a  great  scale  unknown  even  now. 
Darwin  repeatedly  instances  cases  of  recent  elevation 
and  depression  of  the  earth's  surface.  On  one  part  of 
the  Island  of  St.  Maria,  in  Chili,  he  found  beds  of 
putrid  mussel  shells  still  adhering  to  the  rocks,  ten  feet 
above  high- water  mark,  where  the  inhabitants  had 
formerly  dived  at  low- water  spring  tides  for  these  shells.* 
Similar  shells  were  met  with  by  him  at  Valparaiso  at  the 
height  of  1,300  feet.*  And  at  another  place  a  great 
bed  of  now-existing  shells  had  been  raised  350  feet  above 
the  level  of  the  sea.* 

''  I  have  convincing  proofs,'*  says  he,  "  that  this  part 
of  the  continent  of  South  America — Northern  Chili — has 
been  elevated,  n.^ar  the  coast,  at  least  from  400  to  500, 
and  in  some  parts  from  1,000  to  1,300  feet  since  the  epoch 
of  existing  shells ;  and  further  inland  the  rise  possibly 

.>  Heer,  The  Primeval  World  of  Swltzerlandf  vol.  ii.  p.  284, 
'  See  pp.  144, 145. 

•  Darwin's  Naturalist* 8  Voyage,  p.  310. 

*  Ibid.,  pp.  310,  254. 
«  Ihid.,  p.  297. 


1 

\ 

ii 

i 
\ 

■r 

■ii 

i 

« 

^1'^^^ 


:      'j 

.■-■■-■il  ■'!! 

M  i 


2]8 


THE   FLOOD. 


may  have  been  greater."  ^  Wallace  shows  that  a  vast 
portion  of  the  South  of  Asia — from  the  east  coast  of 
Cochin  China,  to  the  west  coast  of  Sumatra,  and 
thence  round  the  outside  of  Borneo,  itself  nearly  twice 
as  large  as  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  together — has 
sunk  beneath  the  ocean  since  the  creation  of  the  present 
forms  of  vegetation  and  animal  life.  This  vast  area 
embraces  27  degrees  from  north  to  south,  and  21  from 
east  to  west;  including  a  region  of  over  2,000,000 
square  miles.  In  all  parts  of  this  the  sea  is  still  so 
shallow — never  exceeding  60  fathoms  in  depth — that 
ships  can  anchor  in  any  part  of  it.*  Elevations  also  are 
as  marked  as  this  amazing  subsidence.  "In  many 
places,''  says  he,  "  I  have  observed  the  unaltered  sur- 
faces of  the  elevated  reefs,  with  great  masses  of  coral 
standing  up  in  their  natural  position,  and  hundreds  of 
shells  so  fresh-looking  that  it  was  hard  to  believe  thtic 
they  had  been  more  than  a  few  years  out  of  the  water ; 
and,  in  fact,  it  is  very  probable  that  such  changes  have 
occurred  within  a  few  centuries."  ^  No  difficulty  on  geo- 
logical grounds  can  therefore  be  urged  against  such  a 
catastrophe  having  happened,  in  the  early  ages  ot  our 
race,  as  would  have  swept  the  whole  seat  of  human 
habitation  with  a  deluge  in  whose  waters  all  mankind 
must  have  perished. 

The  great  cause,  without  question,  of  the  belief  that 
the  Flood  was  universal,  has  been  the  idea  that  the  words 
of  Scripture  taught  this  respecting  that  awful  visitation. 
But  it  by  no  means  does  so.  The  word  translated 
"  earth  "  in  our  English  version  has  not  only  the  meaning 
of  the  world  as  a  whole,  but  others  much  more  limiced, 

•  Darwin's  Naturalist's  Voyage,  p.  358. 

•  Wallace's  The  Malay  Archi^elagOy  vol.  i.  p.  14.  \ 

•  lUd.,  vol.  i.  p.  10. 


m 


THE  FLOOD. 


219 


Thus  it  often  stands  for  Palestine  alone,*  and  even  for 
the  small  district  round  a  town,*  or  for  a  field  or  plot  of 
land.^  Besides,  we  must  not  forget  that  such  words 
are  always  to  be  understood  according  to  the  meaning 
attached  to  them  by  the  agt,  or  people  among  whom  they 
ore  used.  But  what  ideas  the  ancient  Hebrews  had  of 
the  world  has  been  already  shown,  and  the  limited  sense 
in  which  they  used  the  most  general  phrases — ^just  as 
we  ourselves  often  do  when  we  wish  to  create  a  vivid 
impression  of  wide  extent  or  great  number — is  seen  from 
the  usage  of  their  descendants,  in  the  New  Testament, 
When  St.  Luke  speaks  of  Jews  dwelling  at  Jerusalem 
out  of  "every  nation  under  heaven,^'*  it  would  surely 
be  wrong  to  press  this  to  a  literal  exactness.  When  St. 
Paul  says  that  the  faith  of  the  obscure  converts  at  Rome 
was  spoken  of  "throughout  the  whole  world,"  ^  he  could 
not  have  meant  the  whole  round  orb,  but  only  the  Roman 
empire.  And  would  any  one  think  of  taking  in  the 
modern  geographical  sense  his  declaration  that  already, 
when  he  was  waiting  to  the  Colossians,  the  gospel  had 
been  preached  to  every  creature  under  heaven  ?• 

A  striking  passage  in  "  The  Testimony  of  the  Rocks," 
may  fittingly  close  this  subject.  "  There  is  a  remarkable 
portion  of  the  globe,"  says  Hugh  Miller,  "  chiefly  on  the 
Asiatic  continent,  though  it  extends  into  Europe,  and 
which  is  nearly  equal  to  all  Europe  in  area — whose  rivers, 
till  Volga,  the  Oural,  and  others,  do  not  fall  into  the 
ocean  or  into  any  of  the  many  seas  which  communicate 
with  it.  They  are,  on  the  contrary,  turned  inwards,  if 
I   may   so    express   myself;    losing  themselves  in   the 

>  Joel  i.  2.   Ps.  XXX vii.  9, 11,  22,  29 ;  xliv.  3.   Prov.  ii.  21 ;  x.  30. 

*  Josh,  viii.  1. 

■  Gen.  xxiii.  15.    Exod.  xxiii.  10. 

*  Acts  ii.  5.  6  Eom.  i.  8.  "  Col.  i.  23. 


m 


!?;  It 


...  i]i  M 


*i  I 


:,V'- 


'  ■!' 


I   ^ 


f\ 


220 


THE   FJ.OOD. 


eastern  parts  of  the  tract,  in  the  lakes  of  a  rainless 
district,  in  which  they  only  supply  the  waste  of  evapora- 
tion J  and  fallinj^,  in  the  western  parts^  into  seas  such  as 
the  Caspian  and  the  Aral.  In  this  region  there  are  ex- 
tensive districts  still  under  the  level  of  the  ocean.  The 
shore  line  of  the  Caspian,  for  example,  is  rather  more 
than  83  feet  beneath  that  of  the  Black  Sea;  and  some 
of  the  great  flat  steppes  which  spread  out  around  it  have 
a  mean  level  of  about  30  feet  below  that  of  the  Baltic. 
Were  a  trench-like  strip  of  country  communicating 
between  the  Caspian  and  the  Gulf  of  Finland  to  be 
depressed  beneath  the  level  of  the  latter  sea,  it  would  so 
open  the  fountains  of  the  great  deep  as  to  lay  under 
water  an  extensive  and  populous  region,  containing  the 
cities  of  Astrachun  and  Astrabad,  and  many  other  towns 
and  villages.  Nor  is  it  unworthy  of  remark  that  part 
of  this  peculiar  region  forms  no  inconsiderable  portion 
of  the  great  recognised  centre  of  the  human  family.*'^ 
Eead  in  connection  with  what  is  said  elsewhere  ^  of  the 
movements  of  the  earth's  surface  over  the  Baltic  region 
even  at  this  day,  this  passage  is  very  striking. 

*  Testimony  of  the  Bocks,  p.  345. 
2  ^ge  pp.  144, 145. 


'i  \ 


CHAPTER  XV. 


AFTER    THE    FLOOD. 

TRUE  to  tho  simplicity  of  the  early  ages  of  mankind, 
the  relations  of  men  to  the  Almighty  are  presented 
in  Scripfcm^e  in  language  suited  to  such  a  state  of  society. 
Abstract  ideas  are  formed  only  at  a  late  period  in  the 
development  of  a  race :  like  children,  they  must  long  be 
addressed  through  the  senses  rather  than  by  the  intellect 
alone.  Hence,  instead  of  speaking  of  God  in  lofty  and  - 
mysterious  terms ;  then  quite  unintelligible,  and  hardly 
less  so  now ;  Scripture  habitually  ascribes  to  Him  the 
actions,  emotions,  and  language  which  men  themselves 
would  have  used  in  similar  circumstances.  Adam  and 
Eve,^  we  are  told,  heard  the  voice  of  God  as  He  was 
walking  in  the  garden  in  the  cool  of  the  day  ^ — that  is, 
when  the  fresh  breeze  of  evening  has  succeeded  the 
sultry  heat  of  noon.  He  is  described  as  speaking  the 
creative  words;  as  pronouncing  the  curse  in  human 
language ;  as  holding  judgment  on  Cain  in  direct  ar- 
raignment and  condemnation ;  as  repenting  that  He  had 

^  The  name  of  Eve  was  perpetuated  among  the  Assyrians,  in 
that  of  their  goddess  Ava"'"life."  The  Hebrew  word  is  Havah. 
The  name  Adam  was  in  the  same  way  perpetuated  in  Assyrian 
in  the  form  Admu,  dadmu  or  dadmi  =  dust.    See  p.  83. 

^  This  is  the  full  translation. 

221 


■^    ^\ 


M  1 


222 


AFTER  THE   FLOOD. 


made  man  on  the  earth,  and  as  grieved  at  His  heart; 
as  directing  Noah  in  the  details  of  the  plan  of  the  ark, 
and  as  making  a  covenant  with  Him,  in  human  speech, 
after  the  Deluge. 

It  is  not,  however,  to  be  thought  from  such  modes  of 
expression,  that  human  characteristics  are  intended  to  be 
ascribed  to  the  Creator.  In  uny  age  it  is  necessary  to 
describe  the  unknown  by  the  help  of  the  known,  and 
as  the  mysterious  Personality  of  Gcd  must  ever  be  in- 
comprehensible to  man,  there  is  no  wpy  in  which  we 
can  represent  His  relations  to  us,  except  oy  using  words 
borrowed  from  our  own  faculties,  emotions,  and  modes 
of  action.  Language,  in  any  case,  is  at  first  a  serios  of 
images  appealing  to  the  senses,  and  it  only  slowly  passes 
into  an  abstract  term  in  which  the  idea  is  directly  em- 
bodied. The  simple  word  "  man,"  meant,  at  first,  "  the 
thinking  being  " ;  ^  ''woman''  was  originally  "  wife-man," 
and  our  word  *'  God,"  though  so  like  "  good,"  seems  to 
have  come,  rather,  from  the  Sanscrit  word,  "gudha, 
"  the  self-concealing  invisible  One."^  The  word  "  angel 
means  simply  "  a  messenger ; "  and  though  spirits  "  have 
neither  flesh  nor  bones  as  we  have,"  it  is  impossible  to 
speak  of  them  except  under  the  imaginative  form  of  a 
perfect  human  shape,  and  human  attributes.  So  also  with 
God.  Knowing  no  being  higher  than  ourselves,  we  must 
speak  of  Him  by  images  drawn  from  our  own  nature,  or 
leave  Him  a  cold  and  inconceivable  abstraction,  like  the 
Hindoo  Brahma. 

The  exquisite  naturalness  with  which  this  inevitable 
accommodation  to  our  necessities  is  carried  out  in  it, 
marks  the  extreme  antiquity  of  the  Bible.  The  world 
was  still  young  when  the  Old  Testament  was  written, 
especially  its  earliest  parts ;  and  the  sacred  writers  only 

'  See  p.  89,  '  Miiller's  Etymol.  Sprach-Worterhuch. 


» 


it 


!t        !, 


AFTER  THE    FLOOD. 


223 


Bpeak  as  we  should  expect  them,  when  they  use  a  cliild- 
like  simplicity.  But  the  whole  Biblo,  alike,  impresses  on 
us  the  remembrance  that  human  attributes  ascribed  to 
God  are  only  figures  of  speech ;  for  even  Moses  expressly 
forbids  any  representations  of  Him.  Heathen  nations 
might  personify  their  divinities  in  images  and  paintings : 
no  more  was  permitted  to  Israel  than  to  use  the  imagery 
of  words  which  our  mental  constitution  absolutely  de- 
mands. 

Little  is  told  us  of  Noah's  life  after  his  wonderful 
preservation.  Descending  with  his  family  from  the  ark,* 
he  built  the  first  altar  of  which  there  is  any  mention,  and 
offered  on  it,  as  was  fitting,  a  burnt-offering  "  of  every 
clean  beast,  and  of  every  clean  fowl.''  It  may  bo  in 
remembrance  of  this  earliest  consecration  of  the  moun- 
tain tops  to  grateful  worship,  that  ''  high  places  "  have 
been  so  universal  among  all  races,  in  all  ages,  and  that 
cairns  and  cromlechs  were  built  on  heights  from  the 
remotest  times.  Paradise  had  vanished  with  the  Flood, 
and  God  Himself,  as  it  were,  removed  from  earth  to 
heaven ;  though  still  present  to  save  those  who  duly 
honoured  Him.  What  spot  could  be  more  appropriate 
for  recommencing  the  homage  of  the  race  to  Him,  than 
one  raised  above  the  common  earth  ;  one  marked,  more- 
over, by  so  signal  an  event  as  the  deliverance  of  the 
remnant  of  mankind  f 

When  the  division  of  animals  into  clean  and  unclean 


:  J 


;i  H 


UJ    h 


*  The  *'  gopher  wood  "  (Gen.  vi.  14)  of  which  the  ark  was  built, 
is  mentioned  only  in  this  one  place.  It  seems  to  have  been  the 
"Gopher,"  or  cypress  tree,  which  grows  more  abundantly  in 
Chaldea  and  Armenia  than  in  any  other  country.  GeseniviS 
defines  it,  "a  pitch  and  resin  producing  tree,  as  the  pine,  cedar, 
fir  or  cypress."  Thesaurus^  300.  The  Sept.  wrongly  translates 
it  "  squared  beams." 


ll  ;!» 


>  A      i 

»7      'I 

'J     IJf! 


I*      i  i 


224 


AFTKU   THE   FLOOD. 


I  P 


! 


!i 


ill 


was  made  we  are  not  informed,  but  it  is  worthy  of  notico 
that  Noah  does  not  confine  himself  in  his  offering  to 
those  regarded  as  clean  under  the  law  of  Moses.^  The 
greatness  of  the  occasion,  liowever,  demanded  a  sacrifice 
in  keeping  with  it,  and  Noah,  moreover,  had  provided  for 
this  in  the  number  of  clean  creatures  admitted  into  the 
ark.  Nor  is  there  any  mention  of  offering  parts  of  the 
victims  only,  as  was  appointed  by  Mosos  :'  the  whole 
seems  to  have  been  laid  on  the  altar,  as  a  form  of 
sacrifice  peculiar  to  the  patriarchal  age. 

A  brief  phrase,  which  henceforth  became  the  standing 
form  for  the  Divine  satisfaction  with  a  sacrifice,  expresses 
the  reconciliation  which  followed  between  earth  and 
heaven.  God  "  smelled  a  sweet  savour,"  ^  and  graciously 
gave  a  promise  that  man  should  never  again  be  de- 
stroyed by  a  Deluge.  Henceforth,  seed  time  and  harvest, 
cold  and  heat,  and  summer  and  winter,  should  never 
cease.  The  Hebrews  marked  their  year  by  the  rainy 
winter  time,  with  its  cold,  and  its  preparation  of  the 
soil  and  sowing — and  the  dry  summer,  with  its  heat,  and 
its  harvest.*  As  yet,  like  the  Hindoos  still,  the  hoary 
fathers  of  the  world  had  six  seasons. 

God  had  given  His  blessing  to  man  when  first  created, 
and  now  repeated  it  when  our  race  was  beginning  anew. 
Nature,  in  all  its  tribes,  was  formally  subjected  to  man- 
kind. Our  first  parents  had  received  a  gift  of  all  that 
grows  as  their  food,  but  henceforth  every  "  moving  thing 
that  lives  " — not,  therefore,  the  Levitically  clean  alone, 
v/as  to  be  our  *'  meat.''  But  with  this  there  were  limita- 
tions. The  warm  blood  of  men  and  humbler  creatures 
seemed,  in  the  early  ages  of  the  world,  to  contain  the  very 

'  Lev.  i.  2, 10, 14.  '  Lev.  i.  •  Lev.  i.  9. 

*  Exod.  xxxiv.  21.    Ps.  Ixxiv.  17.     Prov.  xx.  4.     Isa.  xviii.  4,  6. 
Jer.  viii.  20 ;  xxxvi.  22.     Amos  iii.  15.     Zecli.  xiv.  8. 


II 


AFTER   THE    FLOOD. 


225 


life,  and  to  be  almost  identical  with  tlio  soul,  and  honco 
it  was  especially  sacred,  in  proportion  as  tlu)  life  and 
spirit  were  held  in  reverence.  The  si<jfht  of  wliat  was 
believed  to  bo  the  soul  itself,  carried  the  mind  instantly 
to  thoughts  of  God,  called  up  in  it  niysteriou"  ^'  "s, 
and  fdled  it  with  the  unspeakable  awo  which  ovt  )[n>\\  .I'S 
us  when  the  veil  between  ua  and  the  Divine  is  for  tho 
moment  rent.  Hence,  blood  could  scarcely  bo  touched, 
far  less  eaten,  by  piously-minded  men  in  tho  early  ages, 
and  in  this  spirit  God  forbade  its  use,  with  the  utmost 
strictness,  to  Noah,  and  afterwards  to  Israel.  As  the 
seat  of  life  and  indivisible  from  it — of  that  life  which 
belongs  to  God,  it  was  to  bo  shunned.  Even  that  of 
creatures  slain  for  food  must  be  covered  with  earth  and 
hidden  out  of  sight.  Life  must  be  honoured  as  divine 
and  sacred  :  a  rule  of  unspeakable  worth  in  the  violence 
of  rude  ages.  A  further  sanctity  was  thrown  over  the 
precept  in  after  times,  by  Moses,  in  the  command  that 
the  blood  of  all  sacrifices  should  be  poured  out  on  the 
altar,  as  an  "  atonement  for  tho  soul "  ^  of  the  offerer. 
On  this  prohibition  and  tho  others  that  follow,  tho  Rabbia 
founded  the  reouirements  demanded  from  heathen 
half-proselytes ;  to  shun  idolatry,  blasphemy,  murder, 
the  eating  of  blood  and  things  strangled,  fornication 
and  incest,  robbery  and  theft,  and  disobedience  to 
authority .2  Nor  is  it  without  interest  to  note  that  this 
rabbinical  law  was  so  generally  accepted  in  the  days  of 
our  Lord  that  it  was  adopted  by  the  Apostolic  Church 
as  the  rule  for  Gentile  converts  to  Christianity.^ 

A  second  prohibition  throws  further  light  on  patriarchal 
morals  and  social  polity.  While  the  animals  could  be 
killed  at  man's  will,  human  blood  was  not  to  be  shed, 

*  Lov.  xviu  11.      '  Dillmann,  in  Bihel  Lex.j  vol.  iv.  p.  34)1, 

»  Acts  XV.  20-29. 

VOL.    I.  % 


11 


w 

' ■' '  'i ' ill 

iiyil 


).<  In 


_.i 


226 


AFTER    THR    FLOOD. 


■  i 


i   I 


i' 


m 


ll    I 


eitlicr  by  man  or  bcasfc,  witlidut  a  poiialtj.  God  had 
iilrcady  procluiiu(?d  the  Ranctity  of  hutnaii  life  by  the 
Bij^ii  given  to  Ciiin,  to  presurvo  liini,*  and  hy  the  pro- 
liibition  of  tho  use  of  blood  as  food;  but  tliia  additional 
law  now  made  it  specially  sacred  and  inviolable.  For  tho 
life  that  istaken.  He  declares  Ho  will  demand  that  of  tho 
beast  or  of  the  man  who  has  taken  it.  Life  is  to  be  paid 
for  life.  Society  is  possible  only  when  the  person  is  safe, 
and  hence  in  this  fundamental  law,  the  corner  stone  of 
human  progress  and  social  life  was  firmly  laid  at  the  very 
hour  of  the  new  birth  of  the  world. 

This  first  coveirant  between  God  and  man  was  con- 
firmed by  a  sign  worthy  of  a  Iransaction  so  unique. 
The  rainbow  had  glittered  on  the  clmds  for  immeasurable 
ages  before  man's  creation,  but  it  \^  as  now  to  be  adopted 
as  a  Divine  pledge  of  goodwill  to  o  r  race.  Other  cove- 
nants would  be  made  with  Abraham  and  with  Moses,  but 
they  were  sealed  only  by  a> personal  or  passing  pledge; 
this,  had  a  perennial  sign  in  heaven  vouchsafed  it.  The 
simplicity  of  the  language  used  is  only  equalled  by  its 
beauty.  "  When  I  bring  a  cloud  over  the  earth/'  and 
cause  it  to  rain,  "  the  bow  shall  be  on  the  cloud,  and  I 
will  look  on  it ;  that  1  may  remember  tho  everlasting 
covenant  between  God  and  every  living  creature/'  and 
stay  the  rain,  "  that  it  become  no  more  a  flood  like  that- 
which  has  just  ended."  The  sacredness  of  the  rainbow 
has  passed,  from  this  consecration,  into  the  rehgions  and 
poetry  of  all  nations.  Homer  tells  us  that  Jupiter  set  it 
in  the  clouds  for  a  sign.*  In  the  so-called  Field  of  the 
Magi,  in  Persia,  there  may  still  be  seen  a  picture  cut  into 
a  rock,  showing  a  winged  boy  sitting  on  a  rainbow,  and 
an  old  man   before  it  in  the  attitude  of  prayer.^     The 

*  Gen.  iv.  15.  '  *  Iliad,  xi.  47  ;  xvii.  64f. 

*  Eosenmiiller,  Das  Alte  und  Neue  Morgenlandf  vol.  i.  p.  43. 


AFTER   THE    FLOOD. 


007 


Greeks  falilod  TriM,  who  bronfrlit  mossapfcs  from  God  to 
limn,  as  tljo  rainbow.  The  old  Scuiditiaviiiiis,  and  pcr- 
lijips  thd  GorinanH,  fancied  it  a  bridp^(^  built  by  (iod  to 
link  lioavon  and  earth.  But  in  Goncsis  tho  symbol  is 
givuidly  monotheistic  and  spiritual.  Tlio  rainbow  is  tho 
pledge  of  friendship  between  God  and  man,  tho  token  of 
Divine  grace  and  pity,  the  assurance  of  preserving  care. 
Appearing  only  when  tho  sun  has  finally  broken  through 
the  clouds,  it  is,  moreover,  a  special  sign  that  tho  watery 
destruction  which  the  clouds  held  in  their  bosom  is  al- 
ready turned  aside. 

The  only  additional  mention  we  have  of  Noah  is  ap- 
parently given  to  introduce  the  historical  notice  of  his 
descendants.  Having  betaken  himself  after  the  Flood 
to  tho  growth  of  the  vine,^  it  became,  wo  are  told,  tho 
occasion  of  reve^^'ing  in  his  son  Ham  a  trait  in  which 
the  patriarch  read  the  unworthy  future  of  tho  offender's 
posterity.  In  the  want  of  modest  shame,  and  the  hint 
of  impurity  and  sensualism  in  family  life,  thus  disclor.ed, 
Noah's  prophetic  glance  saw  tho  characteristics  of 
Ham's  son, -Canaan,  and  his  descendants,  and  foretold  the 
debasement  that  would  surely  follow  :  "  He  would  bo 
cursed, and  would  be  a  servant  of  servants  to  his  brethren." 
But  this  implied  the  continued  guilt  of  his  race,  for  tho 
curse  of  God  falls  only  on  those  that  hate  Him.*  Tlio 
reverent  modesty  of  Shem  and  Japheth,  in  the  same  way, 
foreshadowed  the  better  future  before  their  children.  The 
moral  and  intellectual  peculiarities  of  a  race  are,  per- 
haps, only  the  perpetuation  of  those  of  their  first  ancestors : 
the  moral  features  stamped  as  abidingly  as  the  physical  or 
intellectual.     Permanence  of  type  is  recognised  in  tho 

>  This  was  probably  in  Armenia,  the  native  country  of  the  plant. 
Tristrum's  Nat.  Hist.,  p,  403. 
■'*  Exod.  XX.  5. 


i 


f/.  .1 


J^ 

il 

n 

-1 

h 

u 

i 

ill 

I 

Ji 

m 

ii 

228 


AFTEE  THE    FLOOD, 


ll        M 


lower  creatures,  and  it  is  natural  that  it  should  be  a  law 
among  mankind.  To  Shem  and  Japheth,  therefore,  their 
father's  visions  of  the  future  revealed  a  far  different  picture 
from  that  prepared  for  the  descendants  of  Ham.  From 
Shem  were  to  spring  Israel  and  the  races  most  closely 
connected  with  the  earthly  kingdom  of  God;  from 
Ham,  among  others,  the  .Canaanitish  nations,  contrasted 
most  strongly  to  the  Chosen  People  in  history,  religion 
and  morals ;  but  the  descendants  of  Japheth,  rough,  in- 
deed, like  the  northern  regions  they  were  to  choose,  yet 
uncorrupted  and  vigorous,  were  to  press  even  into 
the  bounds  of  the  Semitic  stock.  History  verifies  the 
complete  fulfilment  of  the  patriarchal  prediction.  The 
glory  of  Shem,  as  the  fountain  head  of  the  religion  of 
mankind,  needs  no  illustration;  and  the  race  of  Canaan 
sank  before  the  descendants  of  Japheth,  in  even  their 
earliest  settlements  in  the  islands  of  the  Levant,  and  on 
the  coasts  of  Asia  and  of  other  lands.* 

A  point  so  interesting  demands  attention  to  the  precise 
words  employed.  The  future  of  the  race  of  Shem  is 
illustrated,  in  the  patriarch's  mind,  by  their  happiness 
in  knowing  the  true  God.  He  is  the  God  of  Shem,  and 
as  such,  will.  Himself,  be  their  exceeding  great  reward. 
As  to  Japheth,  as  he  and  Shem  had  acted  together,  like 
true  sons,  their  history  would  also  in  s*  measure  blend. 
"  God  give  wide  bounds  to  Japhe<-h,"  *  says  the  seer. 
"  He  shall  dwell  in  the  tents  of  Shem  " — that  is,  he  shall 
have  part  in  Shem's  blessing ;  for  the  God  of  Shem  will 

»  Knobel's  Die  Genesis  (1875),  p.  172. 

*  'iii6\deke,m Bihel Lex.,  art.  Japheth,  explains  this — "God gives 
him  prosperity,  tliat  is,  wide  .bounds,  in  contrast  to  contractei', 
which  imply  the  opposite  of  prosperity."  The  pronoun  "He,"  iu 
•what  follows,  Noldcke  understands  of  God.  "  Yet,  the  greatest 
blessing  will  remain  with  Shem,  for  God  will  dwell  in  his  tents." 


AFTER  THE    FLOOD. 


229 


also  be  his  God.  How  the  nations  sprung  from  Japheth 
stretched  from  Judea  to  the  Atlantic ;  how  they  now 
reach  across  it  to  the  New  World,  and  have  founded  em- 
pires in  the  wide  Soutliern  Ocean ;  how,  moreover,  the 
religion  of  Shem  has  been  their  heritage  also,  is  part  of 
history.   - 

The  Table  of  Nations  descended  from  Noah,  given  in 
the  tenth  chapter  of  Genesis,  is  the  fitting  sequel  to  the 
story  of  the  great  patriarch.  At  first  sight  it  seems 
only  a  dry  catalogue,  but,  on  closer  examination,  it 
presents  a  view  of  the  populations  of  early  antiquity, 
than  which  nothing  could  be  more  interesting,  or  moro 
instructive. 

The  use  of  the  word  '^  sons  "  in  this  table  of  peoples,  is 
in  accordance  with  the  universal  practice  in  the  East, 
of  speaking  of  tribes  or  nations  as  "  the  sons  "  of  some 
recognised  ancestor.  Thus,  in  the  Bible  we  have  the 
"  sons  of  Israel "  for  the  Hebrews  ;  the  "  sons  of  Judah  " 
for  the  tribe  of  that  name ;  the  "  sons  of  Ammon  "  for 
Ammonites;  the  "sons  of  Ishmael"  for  the  Arabs. 
That  nations  rather  than  individuals  are  indicated  by  the 
names  in  the  table  is  seen  from  many  of  them  being  in 
the  plural — as  Rodanim,  the  Rhodians;  Kittim,  the  inhabi- 
tants of  Cyprus ;  while  "  Mizraim,"  the  name  for  Egypt 
throughout  Scripture,  is  in  the  dual,  in  recognition  of  the 
Upper  and  Lower  Kingdoms  into  which  the  valley  of  the 
Nile  was  always  divided,  as  shown  by  the  two  crowns  of 
the  kings  sculptured  on  the  monuments,  and  by  the 
hieroglyph  for  Egypt — a  double  water-plant,  or  a  double 
clod  of  laud.^  Many  of  the  names,  besides,  are  used 
throughout  Scripture  as  those  of  nations.^  Asshnr  is  usu- 
ally translated  by  "  Assyria,"  Elam  by  **  Persia,"  Madui 

*  Rawlinson's  Orlj'm  of  Nations^  p.  167. 

*  1  Kui^s  xxii.  48,  etc.    Ezek.  xxvii.  7-15;  xxxviii.  2-6. 


;    i! 


1  ij^    sjS 


230 


AFTER   THE   FLOOD. 


I 


by  tlio  "Modes,"  or  "Media";  Cush  by  "Ethiopia," 
Liul  by  "  Lydia,"  and  Aram  by  "  Syria." 

The  descent  of  all  mankind  from  Noah  is,  of  course,  a 
renewed  testimony  by  Scripture  to  the  unity  of  the  human 
race — a  doctrine  so  intimatelv  connected  with  the  Divine 
plan  of  Redemption,  and  so  vital  to  the  biotherhood  and 
mutiml  sympathy  of  man  with  man. 

The  distribution  of  the  various  nations  and  tribes  to  tho 
respective  sons  of  Noah,  has  been  tliought  by  som.e  to 
be  based  on  the  three  great  distinctions  of  colour — Shem 
being  assumed  to  stand  for  the  red  or  brown  races.  Ham 
for  the  dark  or  black,  and  Japheth  for  tho  fair  or  white.^ 
Others,  however,  regard  the  list  as  drawn  up  in  ro- 
feren(e  to  the  geographical  position  of  the  different 
nations  or  tribes.^  But  it  is  certain,  that  mere  geo- 
graphical relations  do  not  explain  all  the  characteristics 
of  the  list ;  for  while  the  classification  by  distinct  origin 
may  not  in  every  instance  bo  capable  of  proof,  it  is  in- 
disputable in  tho  case  of  many. 

Beginning  with  the  descendants  of  Japheth,  the  table 
opens  with  the  name  of  Gomer,  the  Cimmerians  of  an- 
tiquity, the  Cimbri  of  Roman  times,  and  the  Cy mry  or 
Celts  of  still  existing  communities.  Their  original  se.it, 
in  the  farthest  north  known  to  the  Hebrews  or  Greeks,  is 
alluded  to  in  the  Odyssey.^ 

The  shores  of  deep  Oceanua; 
Of  the  Ciinmctian  men  the  race  and  town 

*  Knobel  (Volkertafel,  p.  22)  derives  Japheth  from  Yaphah,"to 
be  beautiful  "  and,  hence,  "  white  " — that  colour  being  thought  the 
ideal  ot'  beauty.  Ham  means  "  hot,"  and  thus  refers  to  the  coun- 
tries where  men  are  darkest.  Jewish  expositors,  says  Kiiol)el, 
uiidoristand  Shem  to  include  the  races  of  intemcdinto  shades. 
Shetri  means  "  a  name,"  *'  renown." 

3  So  Merx  and  Noldeke. 

'  xi.  14-19.     Mordauut  Barnard's  translation. 


AFTER  THE   FLOOD. 


231 


Wero  there,  in  miafc  and  clond  enwrapped ;  the  saa 
Never  h>okH  down  upon  tlioiu  with  its  rays  ; 
Kor  V*  lien  it  niarclios  up  tlio  starry  skio.s, 
Nor  when  from  heaven  it  turns  again  to  earth ; 
But  over  wretched  men  sad  night  is  wprcad. 

ThiH  dismal  description  refers  to  tho  country  north  of 
the  Black  Sea,  to  tho  Crimea,  and  the  shores  of  tho 
Hoa  of  Azof!'.  The  Black  Sea,  indeed,  bore  the  name  of 
The  Cimmerian  in  antiquity,  and  other  parts  in  tliese  re- 
gions equally  mark  the  local  predominance  of  the  Cymric 
race.  The  name  Crinioa  Hself  is,  in  fact,  a  corruption 
fiom  theirs.  Warlike  and  fierce  from  the  remotest  ages, 
ancient  history  often  records  their  inroads  on  moro 
civilized  regions ;  as  in  Ezekiel,  ^  where  they  aro  pro- 
dieted  as  coming  on  a  war  of  desolation  from  the  extreme 
aorth,  in  alliance  with  other  nations.  Tho  invasions  of 
Asia  Minor,  by  a  part  of  them,  driven  from  their  homes 
by  the  Scythians,  wore  a  standing  alarm  for  seven  cen- 
turies before  Christ.  But  the  larger  and  braver  half 
clung  to  the  remote  regions  they  had  always  held,  amidst 
the  shades  of  woods  which  stretched,  unbroken,  to  tho 
Hercyuian  Forest  in  Germany.  Latterly,  the  peninsula 
of  Jutland  became  their  chief  seat,  and  was  known 
by  their  name ;  but  they  spread  to  France,  Spain  and 
Britain,  and  still  show  their  splendid  vitality  in  the  Celtic 
populations  of  Western  Europe,  including  our  own  ishmds. 
The  Welsh,  indeed,  call  themselves  Cymry,  and  Cumber- 
land still  perpetuates  the  remembrance  of  their  having 
long  held  it  against  the  English  tribes  from  Germany.* 

Three  races  are  named  as  the  "  sons "  of  Gomer,— 
Ashkeiiaz,  Riphath,  and  Togarmah, — which  aro  not  easily 

'  xxxviii.  2-6.  ^ 

•  *'  Gomer  "  by  KncDcker,  in  B'lhel  Lax.  Knobel'a  Volhf'rtafel, 
pp.  22-32.  HavfUnsov' a  Origin  of  Nations.  BuuBen'sBibel  Urkun- 
lien,  vol  i.  p.  (34.     Vaihinger,  in  Herzog's  Jbincyc,  art.  Gomer. 


■■Ill 


•  m 


fi 


v'^i 


/"^ 


232 


AFTER   THE   FLOOD, 


:P 


I 


identified.  Ashkenaz,  however,  seems  to  mean  "the  horse- 
milkers,"  and,  if  so,  may  point  to  a  race  of  noraades  like 
the  modern  Tartars,  or  the  ancient  Scythians ;  roaming 
the  steppes  of  upper  western  Asia,  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  the  Cimmerians,  and  allied  to  them  in  blood.  It  may 
be  that  we  have  traces  of  it  in  the  river  Ascanivs  in  Asia 
Minor,  and  in  the  names  Scandia,  and  Scandinovia,  but 
this  is  doubtful,  Eiphath  has  some  resemblance  to  the 
name  of  the  fabled  Rhiphaean  mountains,  in  whose  caves 
the  north  wind  was  born,  and  which  the  Greeks  placed 
to  the  north  of  the  known  world.  But  there  is  greater 
probability  that  the  conjecture  is  right  which  connects 
them  with  the  mountain  chain  Riphates,  a  snowy 
range  in  Armenia,  beyond  the  Tigris.  Togarmah  is 
mentioned  by  Ezekiel,^  as  a  people  trading  in  horses 
and  mules  at  the  fairs  of  Tyre,  and  as  allied  with 
Gomer,  or  the  Cimbri,  in  an  approaching  invasion  of 
Palestine.  In  this  connection  it  is  noteworthy  that  the 
Armenians,  the  Georgians,  and  the  races  of  the  Caucasus, 
stili  trace  their  descent,  through  one  Torgona,  from  Gomer, 
and  still  call  themselves  "  The  House  of  Torgona,^'  or 
as  we  have  it,  Togarmah.  These  races  are  all  Indo- 
Germanic,  or  Aryan. 

Magog,  second  of  the  *'  sons ''  of  Japheth,  occurs  else- 
where in  Scripture  as  the  name  of  a  country,  in  connec- 
tion with  Gog,  the  prince  of  tribes  known  as  Rosh, 
Meshech,  and  Tubal ;  ^  the  two  latter  named  in  Genesis 
as  the  fifth  and  sixth  "  sons "  of  Japlieth.  Hence,  it 
would  almost  seem  as  if  Magog  had  been  a  vague  term 
among  the  Hebrews  for  the  barbarous  races  of  northern 
Asia ;  like   the  name  *'  Scythians "  among   the   Greeks. 

*  xxvii.  14;  xxxviii.  6. 

'  Ezek.  xxxviii.  2 ;   xxxix.  1.    The  word  translated  *•  chief,"  is 
really  a  proper  name,  Bosh. 


V       -  'j 

I     ;  1 


AFTER   THE   FLOOD. 


233 


Jerome,  indeed,  gives  ifc  as  the  opinion  of  the  Jews  of 
his  day,  that  it  meant  the  "  terrible  and  countless  Scy- 
thian nations,"  and  while  Knobel  further  identifies  it 
with  the  Slavs  of  to-day,  Gesenius  and  others  understand 
by  RosH,  the  modern  Russians.  Ezekiel  describes  the 
four  as,  alike,  a  wild  and  terrible  race  of  mounted  men^ 
armed  with  the  bow;  a  description  which  suits  the 
Scythians  who  invaded  Palestine  in  B.C.  625.  But  the 
name  was  also  applied  to  other  peoples,  for  Tubal  and 
Meshech  appear  not  only  as  barbarian  wamors,  riding 
on  steppe  horses ;  but,  in  some  branches  of  their  ^tock, 
at  least,  as  a  trading  people,  who  brought  vessels  of  iron 
and  copper  to  Tyre  for  sale.*  Tubal,  in  fact,  is  simply 
the  Persian  word  for  brass  or  copper,*  and  Meshech  is 
thought  by  some  to  be  the  neighbouring  people,  the 
Chalybes,  who  were  especially  known  in  antiquity  for 
their  copper  mining.*  It  seems  to  support  this  ex- 
planation, tuat  Herodotus  mentions  the  Tibarenes  and 
the  Moschi  together,  as  nations  living  south-east  of  the 
Black  Sea,  and  says  that  they  worked  copper  mines,  and 
were  included  in  the  nineteenth  satrapy  of  the  kingdom 
of  Darius.*  The  Assyrian  inscriptions,  moreover,  speak 
of  a  people  and  land  of  Muski,  in  North  Assyria,  which 
there  is  hardly  room  to  doubt  is  the  Meshech  of  Scrip- 
ture.* 

The  Madai,  who  come  next  in  order  in  the  list,  bear 
the  very  name  by  which  the  Modes  are  known  on  the 
Assyrian  monuments,  and  in  the   great  inscription  of 


1 


^  11 


•  xxxviii.  15  ;  xxxix.  3. 
'  Ezek,  xxvii.  13. 

•  Hitzig,  On  Ezek.  xxvii 

•  Xen.  Anab.,  v.  6,  1. 

•  Hood.,  iii.  94;  vii.  78. 

•  ISuhrador's  Die  KeilinsohriJ'ten  unci  das  A.  T.,  pp.  12, 13 


'>» 


ii 


23i 


AFTER  THE   FLOOD. 


I 


I  f  :■ 

;  i 

*  I. 

i  Nil' 


Darius.  Javan,  the  next,  is  the  land  of  the  Greeks,  or 
lonians,  in  a  wide  sense,  which  it  is  curious  to  notice 
is  also  repeated  in  the  Assyrian  tablets,  with  hardly  any 
change,  as  Javanu;  a  term  also  used  by  Darius  the 
Mede.^  Tiras,  the  seventh  "  son  "  of*  Japheth,  is  not  so 
easy  to  identify.  It  has  been  thought  by  many,  both  in 
ancient  and  modern  times,  to  refer  to  the  inhabitants  of 
Thrace,  which  anciently  embraced  the  whole  country 
lying  north  of  the  Sea  of  Mermora,  and  of  the  -^gean 
Archipelago.  The  latest  explanation,  however,  seems 
the  best.  It  supposes  the  name  to  apply  to  the  Tursenoi, 
Tursci,  or  Tusci,  a  branch  of  the  Etruscan  race,  in  their 
earlier  northern  settlements,  before  they  advanced  into 
Italy.  They  were  known  in  remote  antiquity  as  sea- 
farers and  sea  robbers,  not  only  in  the  Italian  seas,  but 
also,  as  Tyrsenian  Pelasgi,  in  the  Greek  Archipelago.  It 
is  curious  to  find  that  this  people  invaded  Egypt,  in 
alliance  with  the  Achsoans,  the  Lydians,  the  Sicilians,  the 
Sardinians  and  other  tribes,  so  long  ago  as  the  fourteenth 
century  before  Christ.^ 

This  exhausts  the  seven  "  sons  "  or  immediate  descen- 
dants of  Japheth,  but  a  further  list  of  nations  or  tribes 
which  sprang  from  Javan,  or  the  Greeks,  is  added,^  as  in 
the  case  of  Gomer.  Of  Elishah,  the  first  of  these, 
Ezekiel  speaks  as  inhabiting  a  coast  land  of  the  Mediter- 
ranean, from  which  the  famous  purple  dye  was  brought 
to  Tyre.  The  fact  that  the  sea-snail  which  yielded  tliis 
was  found  not  only  on  the  coasts  of  Laconia,  but  in  the 
Gulf  of  Corinth,  and  at  various  islands  of  the  Grecian 
Avchipelago — when  coupled  with  the  name  of  the  district 
of  Elis,  in  the  Peloponnesus,  seems  to  indicate  that  as 

•  Schrader's  Die  Keilinschriften  und  daa  A.  T,,  p.  13. 

•  Cbabas,  Etudes  de  Vantiquite  historique,    Paris,  1873. 

•  Ezek.  xxvii.  7. 


I- 


AFTER   THE   FLOOD. 


2^5 


fche  land  intended.  Elishah  is,  however,  translated  in  the 
Syriac  Bible,  a  "  province  in  Italy,"  and  its  beiuf^  men- 
tioned in  connection  with  Tarshish,  and  with  Kittim, 
which  sometimes  stands  for  all  the  Greek  territory,  has 
led  some  to  think  it  more  probable  that  in  the  list  in 
Genesis  it  is  the  name  of  Sicily. 

Tarshish,  which  comes  next,  is  doubtless  the  famous 
Phenician  port  in  Spain,  outside  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar, 
between  the  two  mouths  of  the  Guadal quiver,^  or  "  great 
river."  The  name  Tarshish,  however,  strikingly  corro- 
borates the  statement  in  the  Table  of  the  settlement 
having  been  first  made  by  a  race  of  Aryan,  or  Japhetic 
extraction,  for  it  has  been  found  to  be  only  a  form  of 
the  Sanscrit  or  Aryan  word,  Tarischa — "  the  sea,"  or 
the  "sea  coast,"  and  this  meaning  is  affirmed  by  an 
old  tradition  of  the  Rabbins  to  have  been  for  ages 
applied  to  it.  Thus,  before  the  Phenicians  settled  in  the 
region,  another  race  had  given  it  a  name  v^hich  these 
adopted,  and  which  was  afterwards  applied  to  the  whole 
district.  In  KnobePs  opinion  the  original  colonists  were 
an  offshoot  of  the  Etruscans,  before  they  had  finally  made 
Italy  their  chief  seat.  ^ 

It  is  curious  to  look  back  through  long  ages  at  these 
ancient  movements  of  men,  and  notice  the  attractions 
which  drew  them  to  particular  spots.  Thus  Tarshish 
was  famous  from  the  e&rliest  antiquity  for  the  abundance 
of  silver  and  other  metals  yielded  by  its  mines ;  and  no 
less  for  its  corn.     Already  in  bhe  time  of  Solomon,^  a 


' 


*  Guadalquiver  is  the  name  given  to  the  river  by  the  Arabs 
while  they  were  in  Spain.  They  had  no  word  for  a  river  in  our 
sense  and  called  it  "  G'dol-keber,"  "  the  great  wady,"  or  water- 
course. Stanley's  Sinai  and  Palestine,  p.  16.  In  Brockhaus'  Lexi- 
con, however,  it  is  derived  from  Wad-al-Kebir  =  the  great  river. 

«  Volkertafel,  p.  86.  »  b.c.  1015-975. 


;.^         ■ .'    *. 


!>'      '1 


236 


AFTER   THE    FLOOD. 


thousand  years  before  Christ,  the  huge  vessels  whicV 
sailed  to  it  wuro  known  as  Tarshish  ships,  as  in  later 
days  we  spoke  of  ''  Indiamen,"  and  the  name  even  came 
to  be  applied  to  any  very  largo  merchantmen,  to  what- 
ever port  they  sailed.*  From  the  busy  wharves  of 
Tarshish,  huge  cargoes  were  borne  away,  of  iron,  tin, 
silver,  lead,  and  other  commodities,  including,  at  least  in 
later  times,  consignments  of  delicate  lampreys,  and  heavy 
freights  of  wheat;  for  which,  doubtless,  Tarshish  received 
a  proportionate  importation  of  the  productions  of  the 
East.  The  world  wai  as  busy  then  as  now;  the  fisher 
with  his  net,  the  miner  with  his  pick,  the  sailor  with  his 
\es3el,  the  timith  with  his  hammer,  the  jeweller  with  his 
art,  and  countless  others,  e^  oh  in  his  way. 

By  Kjttim  or  CniXTiM,  the'  next  in  the  list  of  the 
"  sons  "  of  J^^van,  that  is  of  the  offshoots  of  the  Greek 
stem,  a  people  is  indicated  whose  country  is  described 
as  an  island  or  coast  land.  The  "  islands  of  Chittim  " 
are,  indeed,  frequently  mentioned  in  Scripture.^  It  was 
at  them  that  the  Syrian  homeward  bound  fleet  heard 
of  the  fall  of  their  great  city,  and  it  was  thither 
that  the  Tyrians  fled  for  refuge.^  Josephus,'*  in  the 
generation  after  Christ,  had  already  identified  the  name 
with  that  of  Cyprus,  and  gives,  as  a  proof,  that  of  a 
Cyprian  town — Kittion  or  Citium,  adding  that  the  same 
name  was  then  used,  in  a  wider  sense,  of  other  islands, 
and  of    "  the  greater  part  of  the  coast  lands  "    of  the 


*  Thus  the  ships  navigating  the  Red  Saa,  and  trading  to  Ophir 
(South  Arabirv),  are  called  "Tarshish  ships."  Isa.  xxiii.  1,  14. 
1  Kings  ix.  28 ;  x.  22 ;  xx.  49.  2  Ohron.  ix.  21 ;  xx.  3(3,  37.  Luther 
calls  these  vet^sels  "  Sea-ships,"  using  the  name  T-irshish  in  its 
Sanscrit  sense  of  "  the  sea,"  which  is  adopted  also  by  the  Vul- 
gate, the  Septuagint,  and  the  Syriao. 

'  Tsa.  xxiii.  1-12.  *  Ant.  i.  6, 1. 


•  Jer.  ii.  10. 


AFTER  THE    FLOOD. 


237 


Moclitorra-nean.  "It  is  especially  used/*  adds  anothrr 
{iiicient,  who  himself  lived  in  Cyprus,^  "o/^  the  Cypriaus 
and  Rhodians,  and  also  of  the  Macedonians,  because  these 
wore  of  the  Cyprian  or  Rhodian  stock." 

The  last  name  in  this  part  of  the  Table  in  the  Hebrew 
Bible  has  been  changed,  by  the  substitution  of  one  letter 
for  another  very  like  it,  to  Dodanim,  inste  ad  of  Rodanim  ; 
— the  correct  form  in  the  Greek  Old  Testament  and 
other  ancient  versions.  It  stands,  without  doubt,  for  the 
Greek  inhabitants  of  the  Island  of  Rhodes,  which  was 
reckoned  one  of  the  isles  of  the  Chittim.,  with  whom  the 
Rhodians  were  counted ;  and  next  after  whom,  therefore, 
they  are  appropriately  introduced. 

This  closes  the  descendants  of  Japheth,  who  are  thus 
distributed,  in  their  earliest  history,  over  the  regions 
known  to  the  Hebrews  in  the  extreme  north;  from 
Central  Asia  and  Armenia,  to  the  wild  forest  regions 
north  of  the  Black  Sea  and  the  Egean,  and  also  to  Greece; 
while  their  descendants  are  represented  as  spreading  to 
Sicily,  to  Spain,  and  to  the  large  islands  of  the  Eastern 
Mediterranean.  The  exact  correspondence  of  this  with 
the  late;st  results  of  ethnological  science  is  very  striking. 

The  "  sons  "  of  Ham  follow  those  of  Japheth ;  the  word 
Ilam  itself  meaning  in  Hebrew,  warm,  or  hot,  and  hence 
the  South.  It  is  also  an  Egyptian  word,  and  was  the 
common  name  among  the  Nile  population  for  their 
country,  from  the  "  black "  or  dark  colour  of  the  soil.* 
Ham  is  represented  as  the  father  of  the  southern  or  dark 
and  black  races,  in  contrast  to  Japheth,  from  whom  the 

^  Epiphanius,  died  A.D.  403.  Hcer.,  xxx.  25. 

«  The  wordwi  ttichemy  and  chemistry  preserve,  in  our  own  lan- 
guage, this  meaning  of  Ham  or  Cham.  They  literally  mean  "  the 
black  a.  fc "  from  F  -ria— Chem — black.  They  came  to  as  through 
the  Arabs,  from  Egypt. 


ft 

r ' 

f 

V 


A 


'■[ 


K*-     I.   , 

II! 


it 


i9i 


m 


238 


AFTEB   THE   FLOOD. 


i 


i> 


I 
I 


northern  nations  sprang,  while  those  between  are  tracotl 
to  Shem. 

Four  groat  races  or  *'  sons  '*  are  assigned  to  this 
division  of  ir  .nkind, — "  Cush,  and  Mizraim,  and  Phut, 
and  Canaan."  Of  those,  CusH  was  the  old  Egyptian 
name  for  the  region  between  the  cataracts  of  the  Nile 
and  Abyssinia,  and  for  the  peoples,  other  than  negroes, 
south  of  Egypt.  It  is  thus  nearly  identical  with  the 
present  Nubia,  and  with  the  earlier  use  of  the  name 
Ethiopia  by  the  Greeks.  The  dark  tribes  on  both  sides  of 
the  Arabian  Gulf  were,  however,  known  as  Ethiopians,  and 
Herodotus  even  speaks  of  an  Asiatic  branch  of  the  race. 
Indeed,  in  Homer,  this  name  is  applied  to  all  the  races  and 
lands  of  the  then  known  southern  parts  of  the  world ;  and, 
in  the  same  way,  Gush  was  a  general  term  among  the 
ancient  Hebrews  for  the  same  countries  and  races  :i  for 
the  peoples  named  in  the  Table  as  sprung  from  Gush 
include  dwellers  in  Southern  Asia  as  well  as  in  Africa.^ 
But  these  continents,  it  must  not  be  forgotten,  were  not 
as  yet  sharply  discriminated,  in  the  earliest  times ;  for 
even  Herodotus  reckons  Egypt  as  in  Asia,  though  he 
feels  the  difficulty  of  such  a  division.  Even  as  late  as 
about  Ghrist's  day,  geographers  spoke  of  the  "  Gussites  *' 
of  the  territory  of  Susiana,  beyond  the  Tigris  and 
Euphrates.  Nimrod,  moreover,  a  "  son "  of  Gush,  is 
handed  down  to  us  as  the  first  king  of  Babel  and  the 
district  round  it.  It  may  be,  also,  that  the  Mesopo- 
tamian  king,  Gushan  Bishathaim,  of  the  time  of  the 
Judges,  marks  the  survival  of  a  Gushite  kingdom^  in 
that  region,  to  a  comparatively  modern  date.  There  is 
still,  moreover,  a  province  of  Persia,  on  the  mouth  of  the 
Euphrates,  bearing  the  significant  name  of  Khuzistan. 

In  a  narrower  sense,  Gush  is  used  in  the  Bible,  much 
*  Gen.  ii.  13.  *  Gen.  x.  7.  ■  Judges  iii.  8. 


AFTER   THE    FLOOD. 


239 


Rs  it  was  by  tho  ancient  Ej^yptians,  for  the  region  south 
of  tho  cataracts  of  tho  Nilo,^  including  Kordot'an,  along 
with  Abyssinia,  tho  present  Nubia,  and  part  of  Sounaar. 
This  great  stretch  of  country  was,  anciently,  far  loss 
confused  in  its  ethnography  than  it  is  to-day  ;  for  count- 
less changes  have  produced  a  variety  of  mixed  races,  of 
mingled  Cusliite,  Semitic,  and  negrc  origin.  There  are, 
however,  no  traces  of  this  in  early  antiquity,  for  tliere  is 
no  mention,  in  tho  Old  Testament,  of  Semitic  races  in 
these  regions ;  though  Herodotus,  in  the  iit'th  century 
before  Christ,  speaks  of  Arabs,  along  with  African  Ethi- 
opians, in  the  army  of  Xerxes."  Nor  is  there  any  hint  of 
tlie  presence  of  the  negro  race ;  for  even  the  Egyptian 
monuments  show  a  marked  distinction  between  the  Ethi- 
opians, and  the  negroes  on  the  west  of  their  country. 
Like  all  the  peoples  already  mentioned  in  the  Table  of 
Nations,  the  Cushites  belonged  to  the  Caucasian  race.  It 
is  true  that  the  Eihiopic  language,  in  use  through  later 
ages,  is  essentially  Semitic;  but  this  may  be  explained 
from  the  Ethiopian  races  having  mingled  with  Semitic 
ones  in  Arabia,*  and  adopted  their  language ;  as  the  Nor- 
mans adopted  the  French,  or  as  Latin  became  the  lan- 
guage of  many  countries  under  the  Ilomans.  Indeed, 
there  are  still  tribes  undoubtedly  representing  the  old 
Cushites,  whose  language  is  equally  distinct  from  the 
Semitic  of  Abyssinia  on  the  one  hand,  and  from  the  negro 
languages  on  the  other,  and  whose  physical  character- 
istics clearly  distinguish  them  from  both.  The  typical 
African  generally,  in  fact,  is  very  dififerent  from  the  negro, 
whose  peculiarities  were  apparently  first  due  to  local 
influences  and  social  degeneracy.*  Mere  colour  is  nc 
index  of  race,  for  the  Jew  is  of  every  complexion  accord- 


*  Ezek.  xxix.  10. 

»  Knobel,  Volkertafel,  p.  257. 


^  Herod.,  vii.  69. 
*  See  p.  157. 


h 


ii 


240 


AFTER  TnS    FLOOD. 


:(t 


\i: 


n 


inpf  to  tho  cUmato  he  inhabits,  from  the  darkness  of  a 
Hindoo  to  the  fairness  of  a  Dane.  ^ 

Five  races  are  named  as  springing  from  the  Cushito 
Bboro — "  Seba,  and  Havilah,  and  Sabta,  and  Raamah,  and 
Sabtechah."  Of  those,  Seba,  "  Tho  Men,"  is  said  by  Jose- 
j>lms  '  to  be  tho  ancient  kingdom  of  Moroe,  shut  in,  like 
an  island,  by  branches  of  tho  Nile ;  and  this  identification 
is  generally  accepted  as  correct.  It  thus  formed  part  of 
tbo  present  Nubia,  immediately  north  of  Kordofan,  Son- 
naar,  and  Abyssinia :  a  position  which,  in  antiquity,  lay  in 
tho  direct  caravan-route  between  Arabia  and  India  on 
the  one  hand,  and  Africa  on  the  other,  and  brought 
wealth  and  prosperity  to  the  country  at  large,  especially 
to  the  towns.  There  are  only  two  notices  of  Seba  in 
Scripture ;  the  one  stating  that  its  people  were  famous 
for  their  stature,*  and  the  other  speaking  of  them  as 
strong  and  brave,  **a  people  terrible  from  of  old,"  who 
broke  in  pieces  all  who  opposed  thera,  and  whose  laud 
was  rich  in  streams.*  Herodotus  describes  them,  very 
similarly,  as  the  tallest  and  handsomest  of  men,  choosing 
their  king  for  his  stature  and  strength,  and  living  often 
to  tho  age  of  a  hundred  and  twenty.* 

Havilah,  a  name  associated  with  the  description  of 
Eden,  seems  to  have  been  applied,  also,  by  the  ancients  to 
another  widely  distant  region.     Even  in  his  day,  Niebuhr 

*  When  Jeremiah  says,  " Can  tho  Ethiopian  change  his  skin?" 
(xiii.  23)  there  is  no  necessary  implication  that  the  race  was 
negro ;  for  there  are  still  African  races  in  these  very  parts,  who 
while  in  some  cases  very  dark,  and  in  others  black,  have  neither 
the  features,  the  shape  of  skull,  nor  the  woolly  hair  of  the  negro. 

«  Ant,  ii.  10,  2. 
■  Isa.  xlv.  14. 

*  Isa.  xviii.  2,  7.  The  translation  given  is  that  of  Gesonius. 
See  his  Jesaia,  on  the  vorseu.    It  is  also,  in  oHect,  that  of  Knob&l. 

*  iii.  20,  21. 


r^t 


AFTER   THE    FLOOD. 


241 


found  a  plnco  noar  tho  coast  of  the  Persian  Gulf,  bearing 
the  uiimu  of  iluwuila,  but  thin  dues  not  suit  the  mention 
of  Uavilah  in  connoction  with  Ethiopian  racers  dwelhng  in 
Africa.  It  seems  rather  to  have  been  the  region  now 
known  as  Yemen,  in  South-western  Arabia,  where  tliere 
was  a  placo  still  known  in  Roman  times  as  Uaila.  It 
may,  however,  have  been  an  African  region  at  tho  mouth 
of  the  Red  Sea,  where  the  ancients  named  a  bay  Avalites. 
In  either  case  it  would  lie  in  close  neighbourhood  to  Seba. 
Sabiah  may  perhaps  be  identified  with  the  old  Arab 
trading  town  of  Sabbatha,  or  Sabota,  which  lay  to  the 
east  of  Yemen,  the  Havilah  of  many.  If  so,  we  only 
know  that  its  chief  city  had  in  later  times  sixty  temples, 
and  that  the  trade  in  incense  was  kept  jealously  as  its 
monopoly.  Raamah  was,  possibly,  the  country  lying  still 
farther  east  than  Sabtah,  and  reaching  to  the  Persian 
Gulf,  where  there  was  formerly  a  place  called  Regma,  the 
form  in  which  the  Greek  Bible  gives  the  name.  Sab- 
tkchah  is  fancied  to  have  been  a  land  still  more  easterlv, 
forming  the  new  Persian  province  of  Caramania,  opposite 
Kogma,  on  the  other  side  of  the  Persian  Gulf.  From 
Riiamah  two  peoples  are  given  as  offshoots,  Sheba  and 
Dkdan,  in  the  former  of  which  we  can  hardly  be  wrong  in 
seeing  the  Sabaeans  of  Arabia  Felix,  a  nation  famous  in 
antiquity  for  their  far  reaching  trade  in  the  costly  pro- 
ductions of  their  country — incense,  balsam,  mynli,  etc.^ 
Such  a  commerce  led  to  their  being  held  as  the  richest 
nation  of  ancient  times,  and  this  added  to  the  excitement 
caused  by  a  visi^  of  a  Sabsean  queen  to  Solomon,  which 
is  noticed  minutely  in  tho  sacred  history.^  Her  coming 
was  in  fact,  in  the  eyes  of  the  Israelites,  one  of  the 
greatest  honours  that  could  have  been  paid  to  the  house 

*  Job  vi.  19.    Ezek.  xxvii.  22;  xxxviii.  13. 
^  1  Kings  X.  1.    2  GhrcK  ix.  1. 
VOL.  I.  1 


I 


i 

i 

i 


lit 


242 


AFTER   THE    FLOOD. 


SHEW- 


illll 


Okakt  of  the  "World  al.  knoww  to  this  Ancibxt  Hebrews.    Bt  Mbbx. 

To  the  Hebrews,  the  East  stood  for  our  North,  since  the  ripinj?  sun  was  the  point 
firom  whic''  they  reckoned.  The  map  is,  therefore,  placed  on  end;  but  if  it  be 
looked  at  sidoways  it  will  at  once  bo  intcUif^ible.  The  Arabs  to  this  day  call  tho 
North  "  the  loft,"  the  South  "  the  ri-^ht,"  and  the  East  "that  before"  (facing  the 
Bun).  Even  so  late  as  a.d.  ISoJ,  a  sea  chart,  maile  at  Florence,  has  tho  South  at  the 
top  and  the  East  on  tiio  left  h'  'id.  The  North  is  at  tho  top  of  our  maps  as  a  result 
of  the  uso  Tf  the  compass. 

The  numbers  mark  the  order  in  which  the  diirercut  nations  are  placed,  ci^um.in./ 
from  Palestine,  tho  centre  of  the  whole,  with  a  i'rcsh  nutation  in  each  direction. 


AFTfiB   THE    FLOOD. 


243 


of  David.  It  was  hence  natural  that  Isaiah,  in  painting 
the  glory  of  Messianic  times,  should  speak  of  Sheba  as 
bringing  gold  and  incense  in  tribute  to  hira,i  and  that 
its  gold  should  be  specially  named  by  the  Psalmist  in 
a  similar  connection,* 

Dedan,  which  is  always  mentioned  with  Sheba,  was 
the  wide  region  of  Arabia,  north  of  the  latter ;  gradually 
reaching,  indeed,  by  the  advance  of  the  population,  to 
the  southern  limits  of  Edom.^  It  is  curious  that  we  find 
another  Dedan,  and  also  another  Sheba,  among  tho 
descendants  of  Abraham.*  This  apparently  rises  from 
the  peoples  of  both  Dedan  and  Sheba  having  gradually 
spread  northwards,  first  in  caravan  journeys,  and  finally 
in  permanent  settlements,  among  the  tribes  descended 
from  Abraham,  who  lived  in  these  parts ;  till  the  whole 
became  a  mixed  race  to  which  the  common  names  still 
clung.^  Nimrod,  another  descendant  of  Cush,  will  come 
before  us  hereafter. 

*  Isa.  Ix.  6.       *  Ps.  Ixxii.  15.      '  Jer.  xlix.  8.      *  Gen.  xxv.  3. 

*  Schrader,  in  Eiehm's  Handworterhuch.    Steiner,  in  Schenkd'a 
Bihel  Lexicon, 


u  - 


I 


f. 

^■HB     ; 

i^^^^B 

■it'ii 


.<n 


CHAPTER  XVI. 


ii''  I 


ill 


THE    TABLE   OF    NATIONS. 

MIZRAIM,  the  name  of  the  second  son  of  Ham,  was 
that  given  to  "  the  two  Egypts/'  from  the  oldest 
times,  among  all  Semitic  nations;  though  they  seem 
strictly  to  have  applied  it  only  to  what  is  now  Lower 
Egypt ;  dividing  that  into  two  districts :  the  Upper  pro- 
vince being  shut  out  from  the  knowledge  of  the  ancient 
world  till  after  the  Persian  invasion.  It  means  "  the 
fortified  "  or  "  shut  in,"  in  apparent  allusion  to  tho  strong 
military  wall  which,  for  no  less  than  1 70  miles,  protected 
tho  Nile  valley  from  the  Asiatic  tribes.^  The  physical 
characteristics  of  the  Egyptians,  their  language,  and  even 
their  ideas,  show  that  they  were  a  branch  of  the  Cau- 
casian race  ;  ^  immigration  from  the  south,  and  the  pre- 
sence of  aboriginal  tribes,  which  led  to  a  gradual  mixture 
of  blood,  explaining  the  fact  that  the  mummies  and  pic- 
tures of  the  earlier  ages  are  nearest  the  Caucasian  typo, 
and  further  from  the  African  than  those  of  later  date.  It 
is  impossible,  indeed,  to  look  at  the  old  sculptures  and 

*  Ebers'  JJJgypten  und  die  Biicher  Moss's,  p.  79.  Ebers  thinks 
thero  were  two  walls,  and  that  tho  dual  form  of  tho  uamc  may 
perhaps,  have  referred  to  tliese. 

^  See  especially  Eber's  ^gypten  und  die  Biicher  Mose's,  pp. 
40-54,. 

244 


THE   TABLE   01"  NATIONS. 


245 


paintings  without  feeling  that  they  represent  a  people 
kindred  to  our  O'nrn.  There  is,  for  example,  in  the  Louvre 
collection,  a  figure  of  a  scribe,  of  extreme  antiquity,  and 
in  it  the  features  are  perfectly  European,  while  the  colour 
of  the  skin  is  a  soft  but  light  red.  The  kings,  priests 
and  soldiers  particularly,  who  alone  kept  their  blood 
pure,  show  that  the  race  had  come  from  the  same  home 
in  which  the  Semitic  stock  had  first  lived. 

Seven  races  or  "  sons  "  are  traced  to  Mizraim,  of  which 
the  first  is  the  Ludim, — meaning,  like  Seba,  "  The  Men," 
— and  supposed  to  have  been  either  the  Egyptians  them- 
selves, or  the  Berbers  of  North  Africa.  The  former 
opinion  is  supported  by  Ebers  with  much  ingenuity,  and 
certainly  no  people  could  have  more  haughtily  fancied 
themselves  men  above  all,  than  one  which,  like  the 
Egyptians,  despised  every  other  race.  "They  held 
themselves,'*  says  Herodotus,  "  the  best  of  all  men."  ^ 

The  Anamim  are  believed  by  Ebers  and  Brugsch  to 
have  Veen  the  same  as  the  Amu;  a  Semitic  tribe  of 
shepherds  who  had  settled  in  the  flat  and  marshy 
pastures  of  the  lower  Delta  and  in  part  of  the  eastern 
side  of  Middle  Egypt.^  But  the  identification  is,  at  best, 
only  a  conjecture. 

The  Lehabim  were  the  same  race  as  the  Lubim*  or 
Libyans,*  of  other  parts  of  Scripture,  and  the  Lubu  of 
the  Egyptian  monuments.  On  these  they  are  described 
as  the  people  living  to  the  west  of  Egypt,  and  extending 
thence,  under  the  general  name  of  the  Temhu,  "  to  the 
outspread  ocean  "  and  "  the  setting  sun."  The  Libyans 
of  early  ages  were,  strictly,  the  tribes  inhabiting  the 
region  west  of  the  Nile,  from  the  coast  of  the  Medi- 
terranean  to   a   cousiderablo  distance  south,   along   the 

»  Herod.,  ii.  121.  ^  yEgypten,  etc.,  p.  103. 

•  2  Chrou.  sii.  3  j  xvi.  8.    Nahum  iii.  9.      *  In  ihe  Heptiiagiiit. 


<    r 


'!    ' 


■f'^l    ¥ 


■     : 
I     I 

'-  i. 
I 

i 


246 


THE   TABLE   OP   NATIONS. 


(■■<n  ■ 


vast  nortliern  eSge  of  Africa.  They  are  represented  on 
the  monuments  as  bright- skinned,  tattoed,  clad  in  varie- 
gated coats,  with  pointed  beards  and  marked  Caucasiaa 
features ;  and  indeed,  were  spoken  of  in  Thebes  and  in 
the  Delta,  as  "  the  white  men  of  the  west."  Ebers  has 
collected  striking  evidence  to  show  that  they  originally 
came  from  the  islands  of  the  Mediterranean;  attracted,  it. 
may  be,  by  the  fertility  of  the  African  coast,  which  the 
abundant  ruins,  still  seen,  attest  to  have  been  once  far 
greater  than  it  is  now.  Yet  the  Hebrew  nuiiiO  Lehabim, 
like  that  given  them  by  the  Egyptians,  means  the  in- 
habitants of  a  dry  and  thirsty  land;  so  that,  except  a 
narrow  fringe  on  the  coast,  the  land  must  always  have 
been  comparatively  desert. 

The  Naphtuchim  and  Pathrusim  are  simply  the  ancient 
territories  of  Memphis  and  Thebes,  in  their  sacred  name, 
as  opposed  to  that  used  by  the  people — for  every 
Egyptian  town  had  two  names,  a  sacred  and  a  profane. 
Memphis  and  its  district  are  mentioned  first,  perhap? 
from  their  higher  antiquity;  for  Thebes,  and  the  religi  n 
so  zealously  cultivated  in  its  temples,  rose  to  fame  at  t 
later  period  than  the  city  of  the  Pyramid  kings.  The 
Pathrusim  were  the  inhabitants  of  the  city  and  district 
of  the  god  Pa-Hathor  ;  the  Naphtuchim,  those  of  the  city 
and  district  of  the  god  Ptah,  but  in  neither  case  are  we 
to  think  of  any  race  distinct  from  the  Egyptians  around. 

The  Casluhim  have  been  identified,  with  striking  com- 
pleteness, as  a  community  which  had  settled  in  the  dis- 
trict reaching  from  the  eastern  limits  of  the  Nile  over- 
flow, along  the  sea  coast,  to  the  south  borders  of  Pa- 
lestine. Hero  lay,  to  the  west  of  the  "  River  of  Egypt/' 
— now  Wady  el  Arish — and  of  the  Serboniau  bogs  and 
Mount  Casios, — a  dry  region,  efflorescent  with  salt, 
which  poisoned  the  soil  and  left  only  isolated  spots  fit  for 


THE   TABLE    OP   NATIONS. 


247 


culturo.  The  salt,  however,  was  an  important  article  of 
coTiiinerce,  for  the  Phenicians  in  the  north,  and  in  the 
Delta,  were  the  great  fish- sal ters  of  antiquity;  and  though 
the  Egyptians  abhorred  sea-fish  as  unclean,  and  salt 
itself;  Africa,  as  a  whole,  must  have  needed  it  in  great 
qiiuntities,  and  it  could  be  readily  transported  in  every 
direction,  since  the  great  road  between  Asia  and  Africa 
ran  through  the  midst  of  the  salt-producing  district. 
The  name  Casluhim  was,  indeed,  given  the  people,  from 
Mount  Casios  in  their  territory ;  the  Kas-lokh,  or  "  dry  ** 
"  burnt  up  hill "  of  the  ancient  Egyptians.  They  seem, 
according  to  Ebers,  to  have  been  of  Phenician  origin, 
but  had  become  thoroughly  Egyptian  in  their  thoughts 
and  ways. 

In  the  Capetoptm,  Ebers  recognises  settlements  of 
Phenicians  in  the  remotest  ages  on  the  edge  of  the 
Delta,  before  the  Egyptians  themselves  had  spread  so 
far  northwards ;  Kaft  being  the  Egyptian  name  for  that 
people  and  their  colonies.  He  supposes  that  they  first 
hold  the  ish.nds  of  the  Greek  Archipelago,  including 
Crete,  and  thence  emigrated  to  the  Nile  Delta;  and  sup- 
ports this  view  with  much  learning.  The  Philistines, 
who  are  said  in  The  Table  to  have  entered  Palestine  from 
the  land  of  the  Casluhim,  but  in  other  passages  to  have 
come  from  the  island  of  Caphtor  or  Crete,  he  regards 
as  the  remains  of  a  powerful  branch  of  the  Caphtorim, 
who,  reachiug  Egypt  first,  necessarily  advanced  towards 
Palestine,  their  final  home,  through  the  lands  of  the  Cas- 
luhim. It  is  pleasant  to  see  the  accuracy  of  Scripture 
even  in  a  ponit  so  minute  as  the  movements  of  a  tribe 
in  the  earliest  antiquity,  thus  vindicated  by  modern 
scientific  research.  The  old  Jewish  aatl\orities,  it  may 
be  added,  read  '*  inhabitants  of  Damietta/'  that  is,  of  the 
coasts  of  the  Delta,  for  Caphtorim. 


M 


248 


THE    TABTiE    OF   NATIONS. 


vt 


Tliis  Mansion  to  tli(3  migrations  of  tribes  in  tho  dawn  of 
history,  slight  and  brief  though  it  be,  throws  a  strange 
light  on  tho  greatest  step  in  the  progress  of  our  race — 
the  introduction  of  tho  alphabet.  Daring  their  long 
settlement  in  Egypt,  tho  Phenicians  learned  to  represent 
sounds,  by  signs  taken  from  tho  hieratic  or  priestly 
writing  of  Eirypt;  and  these  were  carried  first  to  Palestine, 
and  spread  thence  to  all  tho  nations  of  the  east  and  west. 
Originally  from  an  island  in  tho  Persian  Gulf,  this  race 
early  launched  out  on  the  Mediterranean  which  washed 
the  shores  of  their  home  at  tho  foot  of  Lebanon,  and 
spread,  on  the  one  hand,  to  the  islands  of  the  Levant  and 
the  Egean,  and,  on  the  other,  to  the  still  unhabited  but 
rich  coasts  of  the  Egyptian  Delta.  There  the  fisheries 
forthwith  opened  a  new  branch  of  industry  to  a  people 
with  an  instinctive  genius  for  commerce.  The  salt  of 
the  land  of  the  Casluhim  and  of  Libya  enabled  them  to 
begin  fish-salting  factories,  like  their  brethren  at  Sidon 
in  the  north, — for  "  Sidon  "  means,  according  to  some, 
simply  the  "  fishing  "  place,  though,  according  to  others, 
it  refers  to  the  fact  that  one  of  the  principal  Pheuician 
gods  had  the  form  of  a  fish.  Settlements  on  the  coast 
ere  long  spread  to  the  south;  for  thePhenician  was  even 
more  famous  as  a  farmer  than  as  a  trader.  The  Nile 
mouths  were  then  choked  with  the  papyrus  and  other 
water  plants  which  have  now  retreated  to  the  south  of 
Nubia.  Huge  crocodiles,  hippopotami,  and  other  great 
beasts  abounded,  and  the  reeds  gave  shelter  to  immense 
flocks  of  birds  of  many  kinds.  But  the  Egyptians  from 
the  south,  and  the  Phenicians  from  the  north,  clearing 
their  way,  like  the  pioneers  of  to-day  in  the  American 
bush,  ere  long  met,  and  then  began  the  familiar  inter- 
course, to  which,  in  the  alphabet,  we  owe  so  much. 

In  Phut  or  Put,  the  third  "son''  of  Ham,  we  may 


THE   TABLE   OP   NATIONS. 


240 


long 


rocogriise  the  country  known  in  the  hiercj^lyphics  a3 
Punt, — the  modern  Turkish  province  of  Hojaz, — running 
back  from  the  coast  of  the  Red  Soa,  on  the  north  luilf  of 
its  eastern  side.  The  people  of  Punt  sold  themselves 
larfvoly  as  mercenaries  to  Tyre  and  other  powers; 
taking  part,  for  example,  under  the  standard  of  Egypt, 
in  the  battle  of  Carchemish,^  though  at  other  times  fight* 
ing  against  her.  They  wore  also  famous  as  traders  ia 
the  markets  of  Tyre,  sending  thither  the  produce  of  their 
turquoise  mines,  which  were  famous  over  the  world,  and 
export  ing  large  quantities  of  incense,  for  which  their 
country  bore  a  high  fepute.  The  inscriptions  and  pic- 
tures on  the  monuments  represent  them  as  wandering 
tribes  of  a  deep  brown  colour,  and  strictly  distinguish 
tlieni  from  the  settled  Cushites,  on  whose  confines  they 
lived.  Indeed,  the  name  Punt,  which  means  "flight," 
accurately  marks  their  nomadic  habits. 

From  Canaan,  the  third  "son*'  of  Ham,  the  next  on  the 
list,  no  fewer  than  eleven  peoples  are  named  as  directly 
or  indirectly  descended;  Sidon,  the  first  home  of  the 
Phenicians  on  the  coast  of  Palestine,  being  justly  repre- 
sented as  the  earliest  branch,  or  "  first-born/' 

The  name  Canaan  was  itself  originally  applied  to  the 
Phenicians  only,  apparently  by  themselves,  and  to  the 
soa- coast  plain  at  the  foot  of  Lebanon,  on  which  Sidon, 
their  earliest  settlement,  was  built ;  with,  perliaps, 
the  fertile  plain  of  Esdraelon  and  the  fringe  of  level  shore 
stretching  southwards,  towards  Egypt.  In  the  time  of 
Moses  and  Joshua,  however,  it  included  the  whole  country 
on  the  west  of  the  Jordan,  bnt  it  never  crossed  thct> 
river.  It  means  *Hhe  lowland,"  although,  from  the 
keen  genius  for  trading   peculiar  to   the    Phenicians,  a 

*  Jcr.  xlvi.9.    Ezek.  xxvii.  10;  xxx.  5.    For  Libya  the  Hebrew 
has  Phut. 


.1 


250 


THE    TAniJJ    OP   NATIONS. 


>s 


"Caiiaanite"  afterwards  becamo  equivalent  to  a  "trader. 
Tlj{?  word  Phenioian  itself  means  originally  brown,  oi 
dark  red,  and  rose  from  the  colour  of  the  race,^  but 
among  themselves  they  bore  the  name  of  Canaauites,  of 
which  their  Carthaginian  brethren  still  boasted  in  the 
days  of  Augustine. 

The  assignment  of  the  Phenicians,  by  Genesis,  to  the 
Hamite  division  of  naankind,  has  been  regarded  v.3  a 
serious  diffi(  Ity.  aci  their  language  was  almost  iden- 
tical w  :tii  th.n  <!t  ihf>  Hobrews  and  would  thus  rank  them 
among  Sen  iti  |  et«ple«.  But  the  division  of  nations  in 
the  Scripture  Table  as  not  founded  on  scientific  dis- 
tinctions of  language.  It  rightly  assigns  to  the  races 
descended  from  Japheth  the  north  of  the  world  as  then 
known  ;  to  the  descendants  of  Shera  the  central  zone  ; 
and  to  those  of  Ham  the  wide  regions  of  the  extreme 
south.  Language  could  not,  originally,  have  been  a 
certain  test  of  origin,  for  in  the  remote  ages,  when  man- 
kind diverged  from  the  common  centre  in  Asia,  the 
families  of  speech  must  have  been  less  clearly  defined 
than  they  gradually  became.  Hamitic  races  may  still 
have  spoken  a  Semitic  language,  and  carried  it  with  them 
in  their  wanderings. 

Moreover^  the  original  home  of  the  Phenicians  goes 
far  to  corroborate  the  Bible  statement  of  their  descent 
from  Ham  ;  for  we  first  meet  with  them  making  their  way 
from  Southern  Arabia  to  what  are  now  called  the  Bahrein 
Islands  in  the  Persian  Gulf.  The  temples  still  standing 
on  these  islands  in  Roman  times,  were  evidently  Phenician, 
and  the  inhabitants  claimed  to  be  the  original  stock  of 
the  famous  race  of  Palestine.  Their  next  resting  place, 
still  pressing  north,  was  on  the  fiat  shores  of  the  Persian 
GuU^  at  the  mouth  of  the  Euphrates,  called  by  them 
^  Kneucker,  art.  Phonizien,  in  Blbel  Leas. 


i 


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251 


ler. 


>* 


oi 


originally  Canaan,  or,  as  tliey  pronounced  it  Chna,  the 
'*l()NV-lying;''  the  name  afterwards  transferred  by  them  to 
their  home  at  the  foot  of  Lebanon.  The  HimyaritoH,  a 
kindreil  Arab  people,  v  ith  a  language  akin  to  theira  and 
to  the  Hebrew,  and  known  like  them,  from  their  com- 
pleXiOn,  as  the  "  red,"  remained  behind  in  South  Arabia, 
But  the  "  Cuaaanitus  "  chose  to  migrate  to  the  coast  .of 
Palertinr  j  whence  they  spread,  as  we  have  seen,  to  Kgypt 
among  other  places;  remaining  for  centuries  at  the  mouths 
of  the  Nile,  till  Egyptian  arts,  inventions,  modes  of 
thought  and  religious  ideas  became  common  to  both  races, 
and  re-acted  on  Sidon  and  Tyre  :  the  mr  tIs,  the  de- 
graded worship,  and  even  the  ^tyle  of  art  tb.'s  troduoed 
to  Palestine,  becoming  only  too  sad  a  con-,  -ma  ion  in  tho 
minds  of  the  Hebrews,  of  the  common  t  ^  ii.  of  Mizraim 
and  the  "  Canaanite.*'  ^ 

^  Bertheaii,  Geschichte  der  Israeliten,  p,  1.  ,  n  his  very  full 
examinatioM  of  this  subject,  says:  "Under  the  Plamites  we  mcob 
a  number  of  peoples  who  spoke  a  lunguag'j  of  the  so-called 
Semitic  stem.  We  must  therefore  say,  thai  to  give  the  natno  of 
Shemites  to  the  races  who  spoke  a  tongue  related  to  tho  Hebivw 
is  contrary  to  the  idea  of  Genesis,  and  bears  in  itself  a  false  his- 
torical principle."  As  to  the  idea  that  the  national  hatred  ol  tho 
Oanaanites  led  to  their  being  assigned  to  Hatn  as  their  original, 
he  shows  that  this  hatred  never  led  tho  Jews  to  disown  tribes  like 
^loab,  Edom  and  Ammon,aud  that  instead  of  hatred  to  Phonieia, 
there  was  friendship,  culminating  in  the  alliance  between  it  ami 
the  kings  of  Judah.  He  adds :  "  Besides  tho  inhabitants  of 
Central  and  Northern  Mesopotamia,  all  those  people  were  reck- 
oned Sf.nr  itic  who  had  spread  from  these  parts,  especially  tiioso 
who  wandered  to  tho  south  and  south-west."  If  the  reader  vvisli 
to  pursue  the  subject  further,  he  will  find  it  ably  discussed  in  the 
arta.  rhonizion,  by  Kueucker,  and /la^ioaji,  by  Dillmann,  in  r,he 
lllhii  Lev.  of  ISelicnkel;  in  Hitzig's  Geschichte  das  Volkes  Lsruel^ 
p.  26;  in  Knobcl's  Vulkcrtafel,  p.  305;  in  Knobel's  Genesis,  on  the 
chapter;  in  Riehra's  Handwurterhachf  Von  Bohlen's  Geuesig,' 
Herzog's  Eiiciilclopddie,  etc. 


ii 


'ill 


252 


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if 


The  name  IIktu,  which  follows  Sidon,  was  one  of  groat; 
dignity  in  tho  oarly  history  of  Pahvstino.  It  in  applied  in 
tho  Assyrian  inscriptions  to  all  tho  "  west  peoples  "  of 
Syria,^  as  far  as  tho  sea  coast,  ami  in  the  sanio  way  the 
Egyptians  know  Syria  as  the  land  of  tho  "  Cheta/*  or 
"  Cliatti/'  There,  they  were  so  strong,  that  one  of  their 
princos,alono,  furnished  a  contingent  of  eighteen  thousand 
troops,  in  tho  defence  against  Ramesos  II.,  whose  triumph 
over  the  united  forces  of  tho  race,  reckoned  his  greatest 
achievement,  is  celebrated  in  lofty  verse  on  no  less  than 
six  different  monuments  and  temples.  But  though  tho 
name  be  thus  famous,  the  Hethites  of  Palestine,  if  of  the 
same  stock,  must  have  been  only  a  very  limited  and  com- 
paratively fooblo  tribe.*  At  tho  time  of  Abraham  they 
lived  at  Hebron,  and  in  that  of  Moses  are  found  with  tho 
Amorites  and  Jebusites  in  the  hill-country  of  Ephraim 
and  Judah,'^  while  under  Solomon  they  were  compelled  to 
do  forced  labour  on  the  public  works.^  Even  so  late  as 
the  i;imes  of  Ezra,  indeed,  we  find  tho  Jews  blamed  for 
their  connection  with  them.^ 

The  Jebusites,  next  mentioned,  took  their  name  from 
Jebus,  afterwards  Jerusalem ;  the  word  Jebus  meaning, 
appai-ently,  in  Canaanitish,  "tho  waterless''  hill;  tho 
town  being  named,  as  in  later  times,  from  the  hill,  as  the 
site  on  which  it  was  built.''  They  belonged  to  the  much 
divided  Canaanitish  people,  seemingly  holding  only  Jeru- 
salem and  the  district  immediately  round  it ;  but  their 
bravery  and  warlike  spirit  enabled  them,  notwithstanding 

*  Schrader's  KeiUnschriffen,  pp.  27,  31.     They  extended  from 
the  Euphrates  to  Asia  Minor. 

2  Ebcrs'  JErfiipten  und  die  Biiehcr  Mose's,  p.  286.  Bortlieau,  how* 
ever,  thinks  the  two  peoples  tho  same,  Bib.  Lex.  art.  Hcthiter. 

*  Gen.  xxiii.    Num.  xiii.  29.     Josh.  xi.  3. 

*  1  Kiiiys  ix.  20.  *  Ezra  ix.  1. 

*■  So,  Zioii  was  ojiufiniilly  the  liill  of  Jemsalem,  not  the  town. 


THE   TABLE    OF   NATIONS. 


2^3 


their  limited  population,  to  maintain  their  independence 
for  centuries  in  the  midst  of  the  Israel itish  invaders;  nor 
were  they  subdued  till  tho  reign  of  David,  who  at  last 
took  their  citadel. 

Tho  Amokitks  appear  elsewhere  in  Scripture,  as  another 
Canaanitish    tribe    living    within  tho   limits  of  Western 
Palestine.     Their  name  shows  them  to  havr  been  "  moun- 
taineera/'  and  their  habit  of  building  their  towns  on  tho 
top  of  tho  hills  is  recorded  as  having  led  the  Hebrew  spies 
to  speak  of  them  as  "  walled  up  to  heaven."    The  prophet 
Amos  describes  them  as  a  race  of  great  stature, — tall  as 
cedars  and  strong  as  oaks,^ — language  which   seems  to 
connect  them  with  tho  gigantic  races  of  the  Kefaim  and 
the  sons  of  Anak.'     W'>  find  them  living,  in  Abraham's 
day,  in  the  south  of  Palestine,  at   Hnzezon   Tamar — tho 
Palm-rows — and  at  Hebron/^  but  they  also  held  part  of 
Central  Palestine.*     In  tho  time  of  Moses  they  appear  on 
tho  hills  of  Judah,  as  far  as  Selah,  or  Petra,  to  the  south, 
mid  in  tho  districts  to  the  east  of  Jordan,  held  formerly 
by  the  Refaim  and  other  tribes;^  where  they  had  founded 
two  strong  kingdoms,  ruled  by  Silion  and  Og,  extending 
from  the  river  Arnon  to  the  north  of  Bashan.     It  was  to 
them,  in  league  with  other  Canaanitish  tribes,  that  Israel 
owed  the  repulse  of  its  first  attempt  to  enter  Palestine 
from  the^  south,  and  it  was  with  them  it  had  to  fight  for 
an  entrance,  a  generation  later,  from  the  east  of  the  Jor- 
dan.   Sihon  and  Og,  their  kings  in  that  region,  were  then 
crushed,  and  their  country  given  to  the  Israelites ;  but  tho 
Amorites  of  the  south  were  conquered  only  at  a  later  time, 
by  Judah.    Those  of  Central  Palestine  kept  possession  of 
their  towns  even  longer;  but  in  the  end,  tho  wreck  of  tho 
nation,  v/ith  the  surviving  Canaauites  of  other  tribes,  were 

'  Amos  ii.  9.  ^  Num.  xiii.  33.  •  Gen.  xiv.  7, 13. 

•  Gen.  xlviii.  22.         '  Gen.  xiv.  5.  Num.  xiii.  30.   Jud.  i.  IIG. 


■i^ 


M 


H 

|!   ■ 

II 

i 

H  * 

1 

i  1 

V' 

1 

25  i 


THE   TABLE   OF   NATIONS. 


Ii 


forced  to  do  servico  to  Solomon.*  Still,  Romo  remainod 
even  after  tho  return  of  tho  Jews  from  exile,  for  Kzra 
expressly  forbids  marriages  between  them  and  tho 
Israelites. 

Tlio  GmGASiiiTES  lived  somewhere  in  Central  Palestine, 
but  even  Josophus  could  find  no  trace  of  tluMn  in  his  ihiy.' 
Tliere  is  an  Armenian  tradition,  however,  that  they 
nngrated,  in  the  days  of  Joshua,  to  Armenia,  and  they 
have  been  thought,  from  this  and  the  similarity  of  the 
words,  to  have  been  the  progenitors  of  the  Tcherkessen  or 
Circassians,  between  the  Black  Sea  and  the  river  Kuban, 
— a  fact  which  implies  that  they  were  not  Semitic  but 
Aryan. 

The  HiviTES  appear  in  the  days  of  tho  Patriarchs,  at 
Shechem,  and  survived  the  doom  pronounced  against 
them  when  the  land  was  conquered  by  Israel.  Tho 
Gibeouites,  who  by  their  craft  saved  their  lives,  though 
made  slaves  for  the  service  of  tho  Tabernacle,  were  of  this 
tribe.  It  is  curious  to  notice  that  this  incident  reveals 
the  existence  of  a  republican  form  of  government,  by 
elders,  at  Gibeon,  while  the  Hivites  of  Shechem  appear  as 
a  free  community  under  a  prince  :  generous  political  ideas 
which  seem  to  justify  the  usual  derivation  of  the  name  of 
the  tribe  as  meaning  "  the  community."  ^  Nor  were  they 
confined  to  Palestine  proper,  for  we  find  them  on  tho 
BOiithern  slopes  of  Lebanon,  and  oven  as  far  north  as 
Hamath  on  the  Orontes.  But  they  had  sunk  in  Solomon's 
time  to  a  feeble  remnant,  toiling,  like  the  other  remnants 
of  their  countrymen,  in  forced  labour,  at  tho  public  works 
of  the  haughty  Sultan.  From  his  reign  their  name  is  not 
mentioned.* 

'  1  Kiiii^s  ix.  20,  21.  «  Ant,  i.  6.  2, 

*  Evviil-d's  Gcschichte,  vol.  i.  p.  341. 

*  Jud.  iii.  3.     1  Kiiigd  ix.  30. 


THE   TABLE   OP   NATIONS. 


255 


Tlio  Arkttes  wore  a  small  tribo  of  Ciinaanitos  Hvinpf  far 
to  tlio  north,  on  tho  roast  of   Palo.stiiK*,  about  Hixty  miles 
beyond  the  pn'Hont  Itoyrout.     The  name  still  clinics  there 
to  tho  ruins  of  a  town,  in  tlio  midst  of  which  rises  a 
niound  a  hundred   feet  hijjfh,  which   was   a  fortress   in 
tho  times  of  tho  crusades.     Tho  Sinites  were  an  oven 
moro  obscnro  tribo,  who  had  a  town  called  Sini,  and  a 
Buiall  district  round  it,  on  tho  western  slope  of  tho  Lebanon 
chain,  to  tho  north  of  Arki  j  tho  old  nanio  lingering  still, 
in  tho  days  of  Jerome,  though  tho  town  had  perished. 
Two  communities  so  comparatively  feeble  may  have  been 
mentioned  from  the  fact  that,  according   to  Josephus, 
Arki  was  included  in  tho  limits  of  tho  tribo  of  Ashcr  and 
was  embraced  in  the  kingdom    of    Solomon.^      In  the 
Arvadites  we  havo  the  population  of  the  island  town  of 
Aradus,  and  of  the  island  of  that  name  on  which  it  stood; 
a  spot  of  only  about  four-fifths  of  a  mile  in  circuit,  off  the 
Phenician  const,  north  of  Tripolis;  receiving  its  name,  like 
Tyre,  from  islands  iji  the  Persian  Gulf  from  which  the 
populations  of  those  places  had  originally  come.     Tho  in- 
habitants of  Aradus  though  bold  sailors  and  brave  soldiers, 
were  as  keen  traders,  and  swarmed  so  thick  in  their  little 
town  that  the  houses  had  to  be  built  storey  on  storey  to 
accommodate  them.'*     Tho  island  is  now  called  Uuweida, 
and  appears  to  havo  been  entirely  surrounded  in  ancient 
times  with  a  wall  of.great  hewn  stones,  and  even  to  have 
had  a  double  wall  on  its  north  and  west  sides. 

The  Zemarites  were  another  Phenician  tribo,  which 
seems,  >  >eyond  doubt,  to  have  had  its  seat  at  the  Pheni- 
cian fortified  town  of  Smyrna,  near  the  river  Eleuthcrus, 
at  the  western  base  of  the  Lebanon  chain.  The  liame, 
indeed,   exactly    suits   the    locality,   for  it   is  from  the 

*  Ant.,\.  6,  2;  v.  1,  22;  viii.  2,  3.  Compuro  Josh.  \iii.  Sj  xix.2b, 

•  Straho.  xvi.  753. 


r 


i ) 


\ 


i 


U/t  H 


256 


THE    TABLE    OP   NATFONS. 


Arabic,  "samara"  "to  flow  or  rush  down/'  and  could  not 
be  more  expressive  of  a  population  livin<^  on  steep  ~aoun. 
tain  slopes,  amidst  rushing  hill  streams,  Ham^th,  the 
last  of  the  "  sons"  of  Canaan,  was  a  strong  town  on  the 
Orontes,  in  the  valley  of  Lebanon,  and  held  for  a  time 
a  not  inconsiderable  territory  in  subjection.  It  was 
originally,  like  Aradus,  a  Phenician  colony,  and  was  ruled 
by  a  king  of  its  own  in  the  time  of  David.  From  its 
position  on  the  great  lino  of  Phenician  trade  with  the 
Euphrates,  Hamath  early  became  rich,  but  it  was  taken 
by  Jeroboam  II.  and  annexed  to  the  territory  of  Israel. 

In  this  long  list  of  Canaanitish  peoples  the  names,  with 
the  exception  of  Sidon,  run  from  the  south  to  the  north, 
and  coincide  with  the  limits  of  the  Jewish  kingdom,  at 
least  as  originally  designed.  The  specification  of  races 
by  the  sacred  writer  is  naturally  more  minute  in  treating 
of  the  population  of  his  own  country. 

The  nations  of  Africa,  Arabia,  and  Palestine^,  having 
been  enumei  \ted  among  the  descendants  of  Ham;  as 
those  of  Northern  Asia  and  of  Europe  had  been  in  con- 
nection with  Japheth;  those  traced  to  Shem  alone  remain. 
Of  these,  the  first  is  Elam — the  High  Land — an  extensive 
country  on  the  east  side  of  the  lower  Tigris,  bordered  on 
the  west  by  the  province  of  Babylon,  on  the  north  by 
Assyria  and  Media,  and  on  the  south  by  the  Persian 
Gulf.  It  thus  embraced  parts  of  the  present  Laristan, 
Chusistan,  and  Arabistan;  a  picturesque,  mountainous 
region  :  its  capital,  at  least  in  later  times,  being  tho  famous 
city  of  Shashan,  so  often  mentioned  in  Daniel  as  a  royal 
residence  of  the  kings  of  Babylon,  ana  in  Esther  as  a 
favourite  with  the  kmgs  of  Persia.  Lying  farthest  to 
the  south-east  of  the  various  Semitic  nptionalities,  and 
bordering  the  Medes,  who  are  with  strict  appropriateness 
assigned  to  the  Japhetic  or  Indo-Germanic  stock,  Elam, 


THE   TABLE   OT   NATIONS. 


257 


from  the  remotest  ages,  maintained  a  constant  historical 
connection  with  its  Semitic  neighbours.  It  is  not  indeed 
known  whether  the  Elamites  spoke  a  distinctly  Semitic 
language — that  is,  one  related  to  the  Syriac,  Hebrew, 
Arabic,  and  Ethiopic;  but  the  classification  of  man- 
l  ind  in  The  Table  under  three  great  divisions  is  based 
neither  on  the  colour,  nor  on  the  groupin^y  together  of 
like  languages  according  to  their  respective  families,  but 
on  the  historical  relations  of  the  various  peoples.  It  has 
been  thonght  by  some  that  the  Elamites  may  have  spoken 
an  Aryan  rather  than  &  Semitic  language,  but  all  proofs  of 
this  are  wanting.^  It  is  far  more  probable,  that  a  people 
expressly  named  as  Semitic  in  the  Genesis  list,  and 
always  from  the  earliest  periods  maintaining  a  historical 
connection  with  the  other  nations  of  that  race,  spoke  a 
language  related  to  the  Assyrian  and  Babylonian — that 
is,  one  of  the  so-called  Semitic  languages.  Nor  would 
this  be  at  all  affected  by  the  possibility  that  as  Aryan 
races  like  the  Persian  pressed  into  the  land,  a  mixed 
language  may  gradually  have  come  to  be  spoken.'^  The 
incidental  notice  of  Scripture  is  thus  supported  by  his- 
torical probability  of  the  strongest  kind. 

It  is  a  curious  evidence  of  the  antiquity  as  well  as 
correctness  of  the  Table  in  Genesis,  that  though  it 
mentions  Elam,  it  knows  nothing  of  Persia.  The  ex- 
planation lies  in  the  fact,  that  till  the  rise  of  Cyrus  in  the 
sixth  century  before  Christ,  Persia  was  alike  unimportant 
and  unknown. 

The  second  "son"  of  Shem  mentioned,^  is  the  world- 
famous  Ass  HUB,  or  Assyria,  a  name  already  occurring  in 


*  See  the  remarks  of  such  an  arcom])lished  scholar  as  Sclirador, 
art.  Elam,  Riehm's  Hnndwortcrhuch.  Alsollonan's  lllstoiro  Gone- 
rah  d(fs  Langaes  Seinitiqaes.     2nd  ed.  p.  41. 

2  Dillmarii),  iii  art.  Elura,  in  Tiibel  Lex.  •  0en.  x.  22. 

VOL.  1.  i 


258 


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'% 

i  i 

i' 


H"1b|! 


M 


a  preceding  verse,  where  it  is  said,  that  Asshur  went  out 
of  the  laud  of  Shinar  and  built  Nineveh  and  other  cities, 
or  rather,  as  it  should  be  read,  "  He,  Nimrod,  went  out 
of  that  land  (Babylon)  into  Assyria,  and  built  Nineveh." 
That  Babylon,  as  a  kingdom,  ilius  preceded  Assyria,  has 
been  confirmed  by  the  latest  researches;  and  Assyrian 
tablets,  recovered  in  such  numbers  from  Nineveh,  as  well 
as  the  facial  type  of  the  people  on  the  monuments,  prove 
that  the  Bible  rightly  assigns  the  inhabitant's  to  the 
Semitic  branch  of  the  Caucasian  race.  The  hmf  aage, 
indeed,  was  the  same  as  that  of  Babylon,  and  the  writing 
in  use  only  that  of  the  Babylonian  district  simplified, 
while  even  in  religion  the  later  state  borrowed  from 
the  earlier.  Strange  to  say — or,  rather,  not  strange — < 
although  Scripture  had  for  thousands  of  years  described 
Assyria  as  of  Semitic  origin,  the  discoveries  of  recent 
years  show  that  it  would  havo  been  easy  to  have  as- 
signed it  wrongly  to  another  origin;  for  the  rapid 
progress  made  in  deciphering  the  arrow-headed  writing 
peculiar  to  these  regions,  has  shown  that  an  earlier  race 
— the  Accadian — apparently  of  Turanian  or  Tartar  origin, 
had  first  established  themselves  on  the  Euphrates,  and 
introduced  a  culture  and  polity  wonderfully  developed 
for  so  remote  an  age.  From  them  the  Babylonians 
and  Assyrians  borrowed  their  writing,  their  earliest 
religion,  and  much  else ;  so  that  it  would  have  been 
natural  to  have  spoken  of  them,  rather  than  of  a  Semitic 
people,  as  founding  Assyria,  as  was,  however,  the  case. 
The  Accadians  were  the  old  Babylonians,  but  Assyria 
was  from  the  first  Semitic.  The  word  Assur,  itself, 
is  the  name  of  the  chief  god  of  the  Assyrians,  as  if 
they  had  deified  their  founder.  The  limits  of  ancient 
Assyria,  at  first,  were  very  small ;  embracing  nearly  the 
same  region    as    the   Roman  province  of  Adiabene,  or 


I:  f 


THE    TABLE    OP   NATIONS. 


250 


the  southern  part  of  the  modern  Turkish  province  of 
Kurdistan,  far  up  towards  the  sources  of  the  Tigris,  and 
immediately  south  of  ancient  Armenia — that  is,  on  a 
lino  with  the  modern  Aleppo,  and  the  south  coast  of 
Asia  Minor.  It  was  thus,  to  the  Hebrews  in  Palestine, 
at  all  times,  a  strictly  northern  power,  and  is  constantly 
spoken  of  as  such  in  the  Prophets. 

It  has  been  a  much  disputed  question,  how  races  of  so- 
called  different  stems,  like  the  Cushite  Babylonians  and 
the  Semitic  Assyrians,  spoke  the  same  language ;  but 
the  difficulty  seems  to  rise  from  the  improper  use  of  the 
expression  "  Semitic.''  A  number,  if  not  the  majority 
of  the  peoples  traced  in  Genesis  to  Ham,  in  particular 
the  Cushites,  spoke  languages  of  this  class.  The  Hebrew, 
in  fact,  was  originally  only  the  idiom  of  the  Canaanites,  a 
population  especially  Hamite.  Isaiah  even  calls  it  "  the 
language  of  Canaan."^  It  was  from  living  for  generations 
among  the  Canaanites,  that  Abraham  and  his  descend- 
ants adopted  it  instead  of  the  language  which  they  for- 
merly spoke :  a  dialect  most  probably  nearer  the  Arabic, 
if  we  may  judge  from  the  original  relations  of  Heber,  the 
founder  of  the  Hebrews,  and  Joktan,  the  ancestor  of  the 
Arab  race.^  The  separation  of  the  tribes  which  became 
the  ancestors  of  the  Cushites,  from  the  others  of  the  same 
stock,  who  are  called  the  ancestors  of  the  Semitic  race, 
— the  former  abandoning  nomadic  habits,  the  latter  re- 
taining them — was  thus  the  division  known  as  that 
of  the  descendants  of  Ham  from  those  of  Shem.  The 
former  went  off  to  the  south  ard  west,  the  others  to  the 
north  and  east, — though  all  were  members  ot  the  same 
original  family,  speaking  the  same  language  in  different 
dialects,  and  professing  the  same  religion  under  different 
symbols.  It  is  not  too  much,  therefore,  to  speak  of 
^  Isa.  xix.  18.  ^  Lenormant,  La  Magie,  etc.  p.  277. 


y,,)\ 


2G0 


THE    TABLE   OF   NATIONS. 


0 


1  Vi 


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ir    f- 


tliem  ethnop^raphically  as  a  common  family' — tbe  Syro- 
Arabic  or  the  8yro- Ethiopic,  in  opposition  to  the  Inrlo- 
Persian  or  Indo-Germanic,  another  great  division  of  the 
white  race.^  Thus  the  Bible  has  been  right  from  the 
first  in  classing  races  which  spoke  80-called  Semitic  lan- 
guages, as  sprung  from  Ham,  though  lu  is  only  tow  that 
modern  science,  at  this  lats  day  has  made  the  d'scovery 
which  Scripture  had  pointed  out  with  unerring  exactness 
for  thousands  of  years.* 

Still  ascending  the  great  river,  we  next  meet  the  name 
Arphaxad,  or  Arpachshad,  a  district  to  the  north  of 
Assyria  proper,  and  north -east  of  the  Upper  Ti^»'io;  np- 
parently  the  table  land  between  the  lakes  Urumiah  and 
Van,  and  thus  only  about  a  hundred  miles  south  of  Kars, 
in  Asia  Minor.     Arphaxad  is  stated  to  have  been  the 

*  Whether  the  Turanian  race  was  nearer  to  the  Hamitic  of 
to  the  Semitic  family,  is  one  of  ilv  most  difficult  problems  of 
etlinology.  The  most  probable  opinion  seems  to  be  that  tlie  Tura- 
nian was  the  stage  of  speech  whk^^  the  different  races  carried 
with  tliem  when  they  first  left  their  primeval  seats ;  that  it  was 
developed  by  the  race  of  Ham,  who,  as  the  earliest  cultivators  of 
science  and  art,  would  be  the  first  to  require  new  forms  of  lan- 
guage, into  the  stage  seen  in  the  Hamitic  dialects  of  Africa  and 
Southern  Asia :  and  that  these  were  again  modified,  by  contact 
with  Semitic  races,  into  the  forms  of  sp^/;ch  called  Sen^itic.  Tlie 
Aryan  languages  seem  oo  have  pajsed  ouc  of  the  Turanian  stage 
by  a  still  wiore  direct  process.     Smith's  AucUnt  History,  p.  64. 

Of  the  science  of  language  Max  Miiller  says: — 

"It  leads  us  up  to  that  highest  summit  from  whence  we  see 
into  the  very  dawn  of  man's  life  on  earth,  and  when  the  words 
which  we  have  heard  so  often  in  our  childhood,  'And  the  whole 
earth  was  ot  ono  language  and  of  one  npeecAi,'  assume  a  meaning 
more  natural,  moie  intelligible,  more  convincing,  tiian  they  ever 
b?A  bofora"     Science  of  Language,  vol.  i.  p.  409. 

■^  (Jiijgnijnt,  llellgio)is  de  VAntiijuite,  vol.  ii.  p.  899. 

•  Tue  description  of  th-s  Ethiopians  in  Herod.,  iii.  21,  ib  very 
jLiCiev.orthy.  ..,..,.. 


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THB   T4fiL£    OF   NATIONS. 


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ancestor  of  Abraliara,  at  the  distance  of  seven  gonora- 
tiuns;  but  it  cannot  bo  certain  whether  it  is  only  iutenticd 
by  this  that  the  rei^ion  called  Arpha^ad  was  the  cradle 
of  the  Hebrew  branch  of  the  Semitic  race,  or  whether 
the  name  is  that  of  an  individual,  for  the  tribe  living  in  a 
district,  has,  throughout  the  list,  the  name  of  the  district 
assigned  it. 

In  LuD,  the  fourth  "  son "  of  Shem,  it  has  been  the 
prevailing  belief,  since  the  time  of  Josephus,  that  the 
land  and  people  of  L^dia,  in  Asia  Minor,  are  intended. 
The  order  of  the  names  in  the  list  strengthens  this  opinion, 
for,  beginning  with  Elani,  in  the  south-east,  the  countries 
named  go  regularly  north-west,  till,  in  Lydia,  they  turn 
west;  to  end  in  the  south  with  Aram  or  Syria,  which  lies 
near  it.  Enough  is  not  as  yet  known  of  the  language  of 
the  Lydians  to  judge  confidently  whether  it  was  Semitic; 
but  Lagarde,^  a  keen  and  accomplished  scholar,  by  no 
means  biassed  on  d  le  side  of  the  Bible,  recognises  a 
Semitic  element  in  it,  and  concludes  that  it  must  have 
belonged  to  this  stoc' :.  There  is  besides,  in  Herodotus,* 
a  tradition  that  the  fi'st  king  of  the  Lydians  was  a  son 
of  Ninus  and  grandson  of  Bolus,  which  seems  to  point 
to  a  Semitic  origin  for  the  community.  Even  as  regards 
their  language,  moreover,  it  is  not  to  be  ft  gotten,  that 
were  the  proofs  ol  its  being  Semitic  deemei  msufi3cient, 
the  fact  would  be  as  little  decisive  of  a  diff  inc3  of  race 
as  it  is  in  other  cases.^  Lydia,  it  may  be  idded,  is  not 
to  be  limited  in  early  ages  to  the  boun(  of  the  later 
state,  but  was  rather  a  wide  undefined  r   ri^n. 

Aram  was  originally  the  name  of  a  sm.ia  division  of  the 
Bo-called  Aramaic,  or  Syrian  branch  of  the  Seraitic  race. 
In  the  Assyrian  inscriptions  it  is  applieu  to  the  North 

*  Gesammelten  Ahhandlungen,  Leipzig,  1866.  '  i.  7. 

•  Prof.  Dr.  Kautzach,  in  Biohm's  Mandworteroa^h,  art.  Lud. 


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TUB   TABm   OF   NATIONS. 


and  East  Arameans,  and  included  the  people  of  Hamatb 
in  Upper  Lebanon,  and  Harran  on  the  Upper  Euphrates, 
or  in  other  words,  the  region  from  Northern  Mesopotamia 
to  Upper  Syria.^  But  it  early  came  to  be  used  of  all  the 
nations  speaking  Aramaic  and  reckoned  Semitic  ;  so  far 
as  they  were  not  included  in  Elam,  Assur,  Lud,  and 
Arphaxad.  All  such  races,  whether  living  in  Armenia 
on  the  north  ;  in  the  districts  of  Taurus  and  Lebanon  on 
the  west ;  in  North  Palestine ;  in  the  Arabian  desert  in 
the  south ;  and,  in  the  east,  on  the  Euphrates  and  Tigris, 
were  thus  Aramaic  or  Syrian,^  though  these  widely 
separate  regions  were  not  all  reckoned  as  Aram  or  Syria, 
which  is  an  abbreviation  of  Assyria,  at  least  as  old  as 
Herodotus.^  Its  wide  bounds  are  seen  in  the  fact  that  in 
Arabic  it  is  simply  called  "  the  North  Land,"  in  contrast 
to  Yemen  or  the  "  South  Land  " — that  is,  in  contrast  to 
Arabia  proper.  "Aram,''  means  apparently  "  Highland," 
and  thus  points  to  its  having  been  originally  used  of  the 
mountainous  and  upland  districts  of  the  higher  Tigris 
and  the  Taurus  range,  which  stretches,  thence,  westwards, 
into  Asia  Minor. 

Four  names  are  given  as  the  children  of  Aram :  Uzi, 
11  ul,  Gether  and  Mash,  the  first  of  which,  Uz,  is  famous 
as  the  home  of  the  patriarch  Job.  As  such  it  has  been 
a  subject  of  great  interest  and  much  discussion,  but  the 
latest  and  most  thorough  re-examination  of  the  whole 
matter  has,  apparently  on  good  grounds,  identified  it 
with  Bashan,  on  the  east  of  the  Jordan;  including  the 
districts  of  Batanaea,  Trachonitis,  the  Hauran  and  Iturea, 
but  not  Gilead.  In  this  region  tradition  has  placed  "  the 
Land  of  Job ''  *  and  the  people  still  speak  of  it  by  that 

*  Schrader's  Keilinschriften,  p.  33. 

*  Schrader,  art.  Aram.  lUehm.  *  Herod.,  vii.  63. 

*  J)a8  Buch  Hiob.    Delitsch  (1864),  p.  507. 


THE   TABLE   Of   NATIONS. 


263 


name,  assigning  his  home  to  the  most  fruitful  part  in  the 
Hauran  plains.  Here  there  is  still  a  hamlet  known  as 
"Job's  place/'  and  springs  in  which,  according  to  the 
Koran,  Job  bathed  after  his  recovery.  Fifteen  hundred 
years  ago  we  find  this  locality  noted  by  Eusebius  ^  as  the 
country  of  the  patriarch,  and  Chrysostom^  speaks  of  the 
people  making  pilgrimages  to  it  from  all  parts  of  the 
world,  to  Sfco  the  ash  heaps  on  which  Job  sat,  and  to  kiss 
the  ground  made  sacred  by  his  memory.  Nor  is  there 
any  difficulty  in  the  fact  that  his  home  is  at  times  spoken 
of  as  in  Arabia,  for  that  name  was  used  of  the  Hauran; 
its  southern  town,  Bozra,  being  reckoned  in  Arabia  by 
Joseplius,*  who  even  assigns  the  Hauran  as  the  country 
of  Uz,  the  reputed  founder  of  Damascus  and  Trachou- 
itis.* 

HuL  seems  to  be  most  correctly  identified  as  the  district 
round  the  Lake  Merom  still  know  .  ^3  el  Huleh ;  in 
part  a  swampy  region,  with  dense  i  ;ds  of  reeds,  long 
after  the  delight  of  Herod  the  Great,  as  a  covert  for  the 
wild  boars  and  other  large  game  he  loved  so  well  to  hunt. 
But  the  land  rises  on  the  west  to  over  a  thousand  feet, 
and  to  a  still  greater  elevation  on  the  east,  though  the 
whole  district  is  not  more  than  five  or  six  miles  broad, 
and  about  twenty  from  north  to  south.  Get  her,  the  third 
name,  seems  to  have  been  the  district  of  Iturea,  lying 
between  Uz  or  the  Hauran  on  the  east,  and  Hul  or  el 
Huloh,  on  the  west ;  *  perhaps  the  district  from  which,  as 
the  kingdom  of  Geshur,  David  got  his  wife  Maacah,  the 


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'  Died  A.D.  3W. 
3  Died  A.D.  407. 
'  Ant,  iv.  7,  4. 

^  AnL,  i.  6,  4.     Hitzig,  Das  Buck  Hidb,  Leipzig  (1874),  also 
places  Uz  in  the  Hauran.     8o  does  Merx. 
*  Merx,  in  Bib.  Lex.,  vol.  i.  p.  512. 


2GI 


THE   TAHLK   OF   NATIONS. 


hi 


motlior  of  Absalom.^  Masft,  which  is  given  as  Mcspch  in 
the  Soptuagint,  was  possibly  the  district  of  Mount  Masios 
in  Northern  Mesopotamia,^  immediately  south  of  Armenia, 
but  there  seems  a  greater  probability  that  a  trace  of  it 
may  still  be  found  not  far  from  el  Huleh  in  a  site  known 
as  Mais  el  Jebel.* 

The  list  now  becomes  more  directly  genealogical,  intro- 
ducing the  descendants  of  Arphaxad,  in  whom  we  rocog. 
nise  known  historic  names.  Of  thoso,  the  first,  Salah,  or 
Shelach,  means  "  sending  out,"  and  his  first-born  is  Eber, 
the  "  crossing  over,"  or  "  tho  farther  side.''  *  The  name 
is  however  used  by  Balaam  ^  as  that  of  a  country  j  no 
doubt  part  of  Mesv^potamia  :  an  instance  of  the  difficulty 
there  is  in  kTiowing  when  those  names  refer  to  historic 
personages,  and  when  to  the  country  from  which  indi- 
viduals or  races  sprang.  We  have,  in  all  likelihood,  in 
Shelach  and  Eber  a  hint  of  the  original  migration  of  the 
forct'iithers  of  the  Hebrews  from  theiv  mountain  homes 
in  the  far  north-east  to  the  fertile  plains  of  Mesopotamia, 
on  the  south-west ;  it  may  be  yielding  to  the  pressure  of 
Cen'^^ial  Asian  tribes,  who  from  the  earliest  ages  were 
restlessly  advancing  towards  the  south  and  west.  After 
Eber,  we  are  told,  the  smaller  section  of  the  Chaldean 
Semitic  race  of  which  he  was  the  head  divided,  under 
his  two  "sons,"  Peleg  "division,"  or  '*  separation,"  and 
Joktan  "  made  small,"  and  henceforth  lived  as  distinct 
peoples.  Those  connected  with  Joktan  wandered  south- 
wards towards  Arabia,  where  they  apparently  joined  a 
number  of  Cushite  tribes  who  had  already  made  it  their 

*  Thomson's  L«ind  and  tho  Booh,  p.  251, 
«  Knobel,  Vollcoriafd  p.  2^7. 

•  Thomson's  Land  and  the  Book,  p.  25. 

*  Kneucker  'irauslates  Eber  as  "  coast,"  "  shore,"  "  shoreland.'* 

•  Num.  xxiv.  24. 


THB   TABLE   OF  NATIONS. 


265 


homo,  forming  thus  a  mixed  people,  proud  of  their  con- 
nection with  Cush ;  who  linked  them  more  closelj  with 
the  great  patriarch  Noah,  than  thoy  hud  been  under 
Heber,  their  own  immediate  head.  T\\o  same  course 
repeated  itself  at  a  later  time,  in  a  similar  mingling  of 
tribes  springing  from  Abraham,  with  like  Cushite  peoples, 
and  in  this  way  the  occurrence  of  the  same  names  in  tho 
descendants  of  Cush  and  of  Abrahim  may  be  easily  ex- 
plained. Tho  locality  of  Peleg's  settlement,  for  tho  time, 
appearvS  to  have  been  where  the  river  Chaboras  falls  into 
the  Euphrates  from  the  east,  about  half  way  down  its 
course.  The  name  Phaliga,  formerly  a  town  at  that  spot, 
seems  to  mark  it  as  the  ancient  home  of  the  Peleg  tribe. 
The  thirteen  tribes  descended  from  Joktan  can  only  be 
traced,  as  a  whole,  to  Arabia;  the  interior  of  that  country 
being  too  little  known  to  warrant  anything  more. 

The  country  ranged  over  by  these  Arab  tribes  is  said 
to  have  extended  from  "Mescha,  as  thou  goest  unto 
Sephar,  a  mount  of  the  east;"  the  former,  apparently  i;he 
district  and  town  of  Mesene,  known  to  antiquity  in  the 
sandy  parts  near  Bassomh,  at  the  mouths  of  the  Euphrates 
and  Tigris,  on  the  Persian  Gulf.  "  Sephar,  a  mount  of 
the  east,""  on  the  other  hand,  seems  to  be  well  identified 
in  Zafar,  the  anciently  famous  harbour  and  royal  city 
of  tho  Himyarite  kingdom,  still  kncwii  as  Isfor,  on  the 
south-east  coast  of  Arabia.  Over  that  vast  stretch  of 
country,  largely  desert,  their  wandering  tribes  could  find 
abundant  pasture. 

Thus  closes  the  venerable  document,  wllich  Sir  Henry 
Rawlinson  justly  calls,  "the  most  authentic  record  wo 
possess  for  the  affiliation  of  nations.'' i  Its  historical 
exactness,  recalls  the  article  of  Jewish  faith  which 
maintains  that  its  verses  are  as  fully  and  directly  mspired 

*  Journal  of  the  Asiatic  Society^  vol.  xv.  p.  230. 


t. 


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THE   TABLE   OP   NATIONS. 


■  \ 


fts  tlio  words  "I  nm  tho  Lord  your  God."  ^  l^nt  it  la  nUo 
of  tho  utmost  valuG  for  tho  proof  it  gives  of  tlie  limited 
conception  of  tho  worUl  by  tho  jinci(Mit  Hebrews.  Tho 
north  edge  of  Afrieu,  not  very  Wiv  beh)w  Kjjfypt,  Arabia, 
Ehim,  a  fringe  of  unknown  territory  !iorth  of  Armeniu, 
and  tho  Bhick  Sea ;  Thcssaly,  Greece,  part  of  Italy,  and 
the  islands  of  the  Mediterranean,  embrace  in  their  circle 
tho  whole  Hebrew  earth,  with  tho  exception  of  Tarshish 
in  {Spain,  known  in  the  days  of  Moses,  or  even  earlier.' 

*  Ryland's  Synagoga  Judaica,  p.  20. 

*  In  illustration  of  this,  wee  the  map,  p.  242. 


CHAPTER  XYIL 


THE    FIRST   GLIMPSES    OF   NATIONAL    HISTORY. 


THE  curliest  movt'inonts  of  mniikiiul  in  Western  Asia, 
as  disclosed  by  the  study  of  the  tiiost  ancitMit 
records,  preserved  at  Babylon  and  iNineveli ;  by  the  brief 
notices  of  ancient  writers;  and  by  modern  pliiloloi^ical 
investigations,  show  that  in  preliistoi'ic  times  a  vast 
migration  of  tribeu  related  to  the  Mongol  race,  and 
known  by  the  general  name  of  Turanian,  passed  from 
Central  Asia,  in  different  directions.  Known  under  the 
name  of  Scythians,  among  the  ancients,  and  reckoned  by 
them  "  the  most  ancient  of  men,''  this  great  division  of 
inunkiud  includes  in  our  day  the  Finns  and  Lapps  of 
Northern  Europe,  the  Basques  of  Spain,  the  Turks  and 
Turcomans  of  Central  Asia,  the  Hungarians,  the  tribes 
of  Northern  Siberia,  and  the  teeming  myriads  of  China 
ftnd  Japan.  Once  stretching  from  the  Amoor  to  tlio 
farthest  west,  they  have  now  rather  changed  than  di- 
mini^hed  their  wide  range.  Tho  very  different  types  of 
Dumkind  seen  in  this  great  race  as  we  know  it  to-day, 
seem  to  have  sprung  from  a  mixture  of  the  white  and 
the  yellow  families  of  men  ;  for  some  nations  have  all  the 
ch'irncteristics  of  the  whites,  others  are  identical  with  tho 
yellow,  and  between  these  there  are  varieties  which  connect 
the  most  perfect  European  type  with  that  of  the  Chinese. 

267 


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THE    FIRST   GLIMPSES   OP   NATIONAL    HISTORY. 


"'  Ik  ' 


A  tradition  still  current  among  the  wandering  Tur- 
comans of  Asia,  places  its  cradle  a  little  north  of  the 
table  land  of  Pamir,  in  one  of  the  valleys  of  the  Altai 
mountains.  Starting  thence,  one  part  of  it  sought  the 
west,  and  spread  to  the  extremities  of  Europe;  where 
the  Basques  of  Spain  and  some  of  the  Pyrenean  popula- 
tions are,  perhaps,  its  last  representatives.  Another 
portion,  wandering  south,  occupied  the  plains  of  Bactria, 
crossed  the  Hindoo  Koosh,  and  made  its  home,  at  first, 
on  the  border  of  the  table -land  of  Iran  or  Persia,  where 
it  established  itself  in  the  region  afterwards  known  as 
Media.  Several  tribes,  however,  wandered  on  to  Atro- 
patene,  to  Armenia,  and  even,  as  we  have  seen,  to  Asia 
Minor.  Others  again  pushed  to  the  south  and  fixed 
their  homes  in  the  uplands  and  plains  of  Susiana,  and 
on  the  banks  of  the  Tigris  and  the  Euphrates. 

These  earliest  known  inhabitants  of  Mesopotamia 
were  called  among  themselves  "the  Accadians"  or 
"Mountaineers;"  a  name  brought  with  them  from  the 
mountain  land  in  the  far  north-east  from  which  their 
race  had  migrated.  Before  reaching  the  Euphrates  they 
had  already  become  an  organized  nation,  possessing  a 
peculiar  form  of  writing,  the  chief  necessary  industries 
of  civilization,  and  a  systematized  legislation  and  re- 
ligion. Their  alphabet,  like  that  of  the  Egyptians,  was 
at  first  purely  hieroglyphic ;  each  sign  being  a  picture  of 
the  object  desired  to  be  represented,  or  of  something 
nearest  the  idea  to  be  expressed.  Thus  "  God "  was 
indicated  by  a  star  with  eight  rays ;  a  king  by  the  figure 
of  a  bee ;  but  these  signs,  erelong,  passed  into  rude  imita- 
tions of  their  original  form,  and  thus  led  to  the  system 
known  as  the  cuneiform,  or  arrowhead,  or  wedge-shaped 
characters. 

besides  writing,  however,  these  Accadians  knew  the 


THE   FIRST   GLIMPSES   OF   NATIONAL   HISTORY. 


269 


use  of  both  the  common  and  precious  metals,  for  they 
had  learned  the  art  of  mining  in  the  rich  mountain 
regions  of  Tibet,  their  first  home.  Their  oldest  tombs 
contain  objects  in  gold,  and  in  bronze  and  iron ;  knives 
hatchets,  scythes,  bracelets,  and  chased  earrings.^  But, 
side  by  side  with  these,  are  found  flint  arms  and  imple- 
ments, heads  of  arrows,  axes,  and  hammers.  Iron  was 
the  scarcest  metal  amongst  them,  and,  as  such,  the  most 
precious.*  The  only  fragment  we  possess  of  their  laws 
treats  of  the  relations  and  rights  of  the  family,  which 
closely  resemble  those  prevalent  among  the  ancient  Finns 
and  Lapps,  in  the  special  importance  ascribed  to  the  wife, 
who  could  hold  property  even  after  marriage.  To  deny 
his  mother  excluded  a  son  from  earth  and  water;  to 
deny  a  father  only  entailed  a  fine.^  Nothing  can  be 
more  strangely  new,  though  little  could  be  more  con- 
vincing, than  the  proofs  by  which  modern  scholars 
identify  this  long  vanished  branch  of  a  great  race  with 
the  still  surviving  section  of  Turanians  known  as  the 
Ougro- Finnish.  But,  unlikely  though  it  seems,  there  is 
every  reason  to  believe  that  a  close  relationship  of  blood 
existed  between  the  Magyar  and  the  modern  Finlander 
on  the  one  hand,  and  the  earliest  settlers  of  Chaldea  on 
the  other.* 

This  Turanian  race  had  been  established,  we  know 
not  how  long,  on  the  Euphrates  and  Tigris,  when  a  people 
of  another  stock  appeared,  disputing  their  territory  and 
ultimately  overpowering  them.  These  were  a  branch  of 
the  Cushites  or  Ethiopian  stock,  a  people  very  distinct 
from  the  negro.      Short  in  stature,  thin  and  well  made ; 

*  Rawlinson's  Five  Great  Monarchies,  vol.  i.  pp.  98,  99. 

'  Lenormant,  Les  Premieres  Civilizations,  vol.  i.  pp.  118, 119. 

*  Lenormant,  La  Magie  chez  les  OkaldeenSf  p.  311. 
^  Lenormant.  Ibid,  passim. 


■'  I? 


270 


THS    FIRST   OLmrSES   OF  NATIONAL   HISTOBT. 


tlu'ir  abundant  hair,  often  curly,  was  never  crisped  liko 
that  of  tlio  negro  ;  dark-coloured  but  varying  from  clear 
brown  to  black,  their  features  were  regular,  often  delicate ; 
the  brow  straight,  narrow,  and  often  high ;  the  nose  long, 
thin,  and  fine,  but  the  lips  thick  and  fleshy.  Spreading 
every  way  from  Western  Asia,  the  mother  of  nations, 
some  tribes  settled  at  the  foot  of  the  range  still  known 
as  the  Hindoo  Koosh.  Others  wandered  on  to  Asia 
Minor,  where  the  Carians  were  said  to  be  their  descen- 
dants. The  hardiest,  crossing  Persia  and  Arabia,  reached 
the  Straits  of  Bab  el  Mandeb,  and  passing  over  into  Africa, 
settled  on  the  Blue  Nile,  where  their  posterity,  the  "  vile 
Cushites,"  were  for  many  ages  the  mortal  enemies  of 
the  Egyptians.  From  the  mouths  of  the  Indus  they  had 
spread,  southwards,  along  the  western  shores  of  India, 
to  the  Malabar  Coast,  and  westwards,  along  the  coast  of 
what  is  now  Beloochistan,  and  the  edges  of  the  Persian 
Gulf.  In  Arabia  they  fringed  the  land  on  the  east  and 
south,  and  passing  into  Africa  reached  the  regions  of 
Sofala — that  is,  as  far  south  as  the  colony  of  Natal ;  and 
penetrated,  by  the  straits  of  Bab  el  Mandeb,  along  the 
western  side  of  the  Eed  Sea,  to  the  Elanitic  Gulf,  which 
bounds  the  peninsula  of  Sinai  on  the  east.  Their  energy, 
indeed,  broke  beyond  these  bounds,  for  we  can  follow 
them  along  the  edge  of  the  Mediterranean,  from  the  Delta 
of  Egypt  to  the  shores  of  Palestine.^  On  these  shores, 
indeed,  they  found  their  most  famous  home  as  the  Pheni- 
cians  of  Sidon  and  Tyre ;  the  "  Canaanites  "  of  the  Bible. 
Thus,  from  the  Indus  to  the  Mediterranean,  and  from  the 
coasts  of  Palestine  to  the  far  south  of  Africa,  the  race  of 
Cush  everywhere  showed  itself;  nor  can  it  be  wrong  to 
regard  it  as  perhaps  the  most  important  of  all  the  great 
primitive  races  of  mankind.  Its  fame,  indeed,  spread 
1  D'Eckstein,  in  L'Atherionurn  Frangais,  April  22, 1B54. 


THE   FIRST   GLIMPSES  OF   NATIONAL   HISTOBT. 


271 


fclirough  all  antiquity,  for  the  Greek  poets  cotnmemorato 
the  Cushite  Memnon,  the  founder  of  Susa  and  the  ally 
of  Priam,  while  Homer  celebrates  the  Ethiopians  as  tha 
wisest  and  remotest  of  men,  of  whom  part  dwelt  at  the 
rising  and  part  at  the  setting  sun.' 

The  Cushites  spoke  a  language  very  closely  allied  to 
the  Hebrew,  Arabic,  and  other  Semitic  idioms;  as  if  they 
and  the  Semitic  races  had  originally  lived  together  and 
been  of  the  same  stock,  as  we  indeed  know  from  Genesis 
they  originally  were,  though  civilized  at  different  periods. 
They  were,  in  fact,  a  branch  of  the  great  Semitic  family 
which  had  earliest  left  the  common  centre,  and  having 
first  among  the  tribes  known  by  that  name,  abandoned 
the  nomadic  life  and  risen  to  civilization,  drew  down  on 
themselves  for  doing  so,  at  once  the  envy  and  hatred 
of  the  other  branches  of  the  race  which  kept  to  their 
pastoral  life.' 

Three  of  the  chief  Cushite  ^  peoples  chose  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  the  Persian  Gulf;  one  the  Kossians  or 
Kissiens  of  the  classics,  settling  in  the  mountainous 
region  on  the  east  of  the  Tigris,  afterwards  known  as 
Susiana;  a  second  fixing  their  dwelling  in  the  lower 
regions  of  the  Euphrates  and  Tigris ;  a  third  colonising 
the  southern  shores  and  the  off-lying  islands  of  the 
Persian  Gulf,  whence  in  later  times  they  emigrated  to 
the  Mediterranean,  to   become    the    Phenicians  of  the 

Palestir    coasts.* 

'■   • '' 

»  Odyss.y  i.  23,  24. 

*  Creuizer  and  Guigniant,  Beligions  de  VAntiquite,  vol.  ii.  pt.  3, 
pp.  8,  22. 

■  The  name  is  often  spelt  Koushite,  but  the  Bible  spelling  is 
retained  as  better  known. 

*  Oppert  fixes  on  the  island  of  Bahrein  in  the  Persian  Gulf  as 
tbo  original  seat  of  the  Phenicians.     There  was  a  place  called 


; 


M 


:;  .n 


272 


THE   FIRST  QLIMFSES   OF  NATIONAL   HISTORY. 


coming 


It  was  from  a  division  of  this  great  race, 
"  eastward ''  from  Arabia,  settled  at  the  mouths  of  the 
Euphrates  and  Tigris,  that  the  first  great  wars  of  con- 
quest rose  of  which  we  have  mention.  In  a  period  before 
the  historical  monuments  that  still  survive,  a  Cushite 
chieftain  of  this  region,  Nimrod  by  name,  the  Alexander 
of  his  day,  conquered,  apparently  after  a  fierce  struggle, 
the  Accadians,  of  the  Turanian  race,  already  settled  in 
Mesopotamia.  Jewish  legend  has  traced  his  name  to  a 
verb  meaning  "  to  rebel,''  but  this  etymology  is  more 
than  doubtful.  It  seems,  indeed,  more  likely  that  it 
means  *'  the  glorious  '*  or  "  splendid/'  and  that  it  was 
given  to  the  founder  of  the  Cushite  dynasty  as  that  of 
the  god  Amarud  or  Marduk — the  planet  Jupiter — an 
old  Accadian  deity,  with  whom  it  was  thus  sought  to 
make  him  one.^  It  may  be  that  we  have  a  reminiscence 
of  it  in  the  ancient  town  of  Nipour  or  Nipra,  in  Baby- 
lonia ;  a  place  identified  in  the  Talmud  with  the  Biblical 
town  of  Calneh.^  Like  many  conquerors,  Nimrod  bore 
the  fame  of  a  mighty  hunter;  no  mean  advantage  in  an 
age  when  forest  and  waste  were  still  so  largely  unsub- 
dued. That  his  name  filled  the  ear  of  the  world  in  his 
own  distant  day  is  suflSciently  proved  by  the  fact  that,  with 
those  of  Solomon  and  Alexander  the  Great,  it  has  still  a 
mysterious  grandeur  among  all  the  peoples  of  Western 
Asia. 

"  The  beginning  of  his  kingdom,"  we  read,  was  Babel — 
and  Erechj  and  Accad^  and  Calneh^  in  the  land  of  Shinar,' 

Tyrus  there.    Proceedings  of  Society  of  Bib.  Archceol.  (Nov.  4, 1879). 
Maspero  is  of  the  same  opinion.    Histoire  Ancienne,  p.  145. 

*  Joma,  X.  a.    Schrader  repudiates  this  identification.    Lenor- 
mant  quotes  it  without  remark.    Marduk  =  Mcrodach. 

*  Grivel,  in  Trans.  8oc.  Bib.  Arch.,  vol.  iii.  pp.  136  ff.  \ 
8  Gen.  X.  10. 


ILI^' 


THE  FIRST   GLIMPSES   OP  NATIONAL   HISTORY. 


273 


places,  the  population  of  which  is  indicated  as  Accadi'an 
from  the  mention  of  Accad  as  one  of  them.  Of  these 
early  cities,  Babel — the  gate,  or  temple  of  the  god  El, 
afterwards  known  as  the  mighty  Babylon — needs  no  iden- 
tification. In  Erech,  or  Moon-town,^  we  have,  doubtless, 
the  Arka  of  the  monuments,  and  the  Warka  of  to-day; 
a  place,  apparently,  even  in  the  earliest  ages,  the  great 
Necropolis  of  the  Babylonians,^  as  it  still  is  of  the  natives 
of  that  region,  die  where  they  may.^  It  lies  south  of 
Babylon,  on  the  west  side  of  the  Euphrates.  Accad  is 
not  identified  as  yet,  nor  is  Calneh,  but  they  both,  doubt- 
less, lay  in  the  lower  part  of  Mesopotamia. 

This  prehistoric  conquest  still  finds  a  silent  corrobora- 
tion in  the  earliest  monuments  that  have  been  preserved. 
On  these,  the  two  distinct  elements  of  the  population  of 
Chaldea  and  Babylon  created  by  it,  are  recorded — the 
Sumirs,  or  "  dwellers  on  the  river,'*  and  the  Accads,  or 
"  mountaineers," — the  former,  specially  inhabitants  of  the 
"  land  of  Sumir  "  or  Shinar ;  *  the  latter  of  the  "  land  of 
the  Accadians ;  "  terms  constantly  used  together  on  the 
monuments  for  Babylon  as  a  political  whole.  The  fusion 
of  these  two  races,  the  Sumirs,  a  Oushite  branch  of  the 
Semitic  stock,  and  the  Accads,  produced,  in  the  course  of 
time,  the  Chaldean  nation  known  in  history. 

This  mingled  population  of  two  dififerent  stocks,  which 
history  at  its  dawn  introduces  to  us  as  occupying  the 
soil  of  Babylonia,  found  neither  quarries,  nor  mines,  from 
which  to  extract  stone  for  their  building,  or  metals  for 
their  use.     Perhaps,  like  the  Chaldean  Arabs  of  to-day. 


•ft 


*  Oppert.  *  Schrader's  Keilinschriften,  p.  18. 

*  Luftus  (Chaldea)  gives  a  terrible  account  of  the  transport  of 
saravans  of  corpses  from  vast  distances,  at  the  present  day,  for 
burial  at  Warka. 

*  Shinar  is  only  a  varying  form  of  Sumir,  in  Accadian. 
VOL    I.  T 


274 


TUS   FIRST   GLIMPSES   OF  NATIONAL   HISTORY. 


their  first  habitations  were  no  more  than  huts  of  wat- 
tied  osiers  covered  with  mats.  But,  if  so,  they  soon 
employed  more  solid  material  in  the  wood  of  the  palm, 
and  burnt,  or  sun-dried  bricks,  for  the  oldest  ruins  as 
yet  known  are  those  of  gigantic  buildings  of  these 
materials.  Thus,  among  the  various  mounds  on  the  site  of 
Babylon,  marking  the  scene  of  so  much  ancient  splen- 
dour, one,  It^O  feet  high  and  nearly  600  long,  has  been 
found,  coveriag  the  remains  of  an  ancient  temple  to  the 
god  Merodach.  This  vast  structure  seems  to  have  been 
a  square  pyramid  of  over  600  feet  high,  and  as  long  on 
each  side,  at  its  base-^or  200  feet  higher  than  the  cross  on 
St.  Paul's,  and  100  feet  longer  each  way  than  the  length 
of  St.  Paul's,  east  and  west.^  Its  extreme  age  is  proved 
by  its  secret  name,  Saggatu,  "  the  high  temple  " — an  old 
Accadian  word.^  An  inscription  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  one 
of  the  greatest  builders  among  the  Babylonian  kings, 
shows  us  that  he  re|tored  it  600  years  before  Christ,  but  it 
had  already  been  rej  aired,  as  a  venerable  relic  of  antiquity, 
by  Tiglath  Pileser,  'i  century  earlier.  It  is  at  Borsippa, 
however,  more  than;  twelve  miles,  in  a  straight  line,  from 
the  huge  mound  k.iown  as  Babel,  that  we  find  the  most 
interesting  trace  of  the  earliest  ages  of  Babylon,  in  the 
vast  heap  which  has  immemorially  borne  the  name  of 
Birs^  Nimrud,  or  i^be  Tower  of  Nimrod.  This  great 
ruin,  a  bare  hill  of  yellow  sand  and  bricks,  near  the  left 
bank  of  the  Euphrates,  reaches  a  height  of  198  feet :  a 
vast  mass  of  brickwork  jutting  from  the  mound,  to  a  further 
height  of  37  feet,  making  235  in  all.  It  is  ascended  by 
a  ravine  on  the  south-east  side,  which  rises  gently,  over 

^  Unglish  Cy do.,  art.  hondou. 
'  Schrader,  art.  Babel,  in  Biehm. 

*  Borsippa  is  the  old  name — Barsip,  of  a  "  quarter  "  of  Babylon. 
Uiehm,    Oppert,  at  this  place,  found  bricks  marked  "Barsip.*' 


THE    FIRST   GLIMPSES   OP   NATIONAL    HISTORY. 


275 


wrliat  appears  a  hill  of  shapeless  earth,  but  proves  at  once 
OP.   examination   to  bo  the   remains  of    brickwork;   tlie 
plain  of  Babylon,  as  we  may  remind  the  rejider,  furnish, 
ing  no  other  material  for  the  grandest  constructions  tlian 
the  clay  around,  baked  in  the  sun  or  burnt.     From  the 
top  of  the  hill  the  eye  ranges  over  the  vast  landscape, 
but    the    huge    fragment    of    Nebuchadnezzar's   tower, 
built  of  pale  red  bricks,  rises,  in  massive  strength,  nearly 
40   feet    higher.      A  bed  of  lichens  covers   almost  its 
whole  surface — a  proof,  under  such  a  sky,  of  the  vast  age 
of  the  ruin.     Numerous  birds  find  shelter  in  its  cracks 
and  rifts,  and,  all  round,  the  ground  is  strewn  with  frag- 
ments and  masses  of  bricks,  fallen  from  above.     Of  those 
some  are  yellow,  others  blue  or  dark  green ;  many  of  the 
larger  blocks  showing  proofs  of  having  been  exposed  to 
intense  heat.i     So  fierce,  indeed,  has  been  the  fire,  that 
the  layers  of  bricks  still  visible  in  their  place  are  twisted 
and  waved  from  their  original  horizontal  position.     Still, 
few  ruins  in  the  world  can  compare  with  Birs  Nimrud 
for  simple  grandeur.^ 

The  original  form  of  the  whole  structure,  known  to  the 
Greeks  as  the  Temple  of  Belus,  was  that  of  seven  square 
towers,  rising  one  above  the  other,  like  gigantic  steps  j 
each  smaller  than  the  one  below  it,  and  consecrated 
respectively  to  the  seven  planetary  gods,  to  whom  they 
formed  distinct  temples.  Beginning  with  tha«3  of  Saturn 
at  the  bottom,  that  of  Venus  came  next ;  then,  one  over 
the  other,  those  of  Jupiter,  Mercury,  Mars,  the  Moon,  and 
the  Sun;  the  colours  assigned  to  the  particular  deity — 


*  The  words  in  Genesis  for  "  let  us  make  bricks,"  are  almost 
identical  with  those  meaning  the  same  in  Assyrian  inscriptions. 
It  is  striking  to  notice  that  bitumen  has  been  used  for  mortar  at 
Bira  Nimrud,  in  strict  accordance  with  Genesis  xi.  3. 

'  Oppert,  Expedition  en  Mesopotamief  vol.  i.  p.  204, 


•\,  N 


276 


THE   FIRST  GLIMPSES   OF   NATIONAL   HISTOBT. 


I 


black,  white,  orange,  blue,  scarlet,  silver,  and  gold — dis- 
tiuguisliing  the  respective  storeys.  The  construction  in 
platforms  of  diminishing  size  was  not  uncommon,  for  a 
tower  of  the  same  character,  at  Khorsabad,  still  shows  the 
remains  of  four.  Herodotus  describes  this  ono  as  stand- 
ing* in  an  enclosure  1,200  feet  square,  and  as,  itself,  606 
feet  square  at  the  base;  Strabo  adding  its  height  as  also 
a  stadium ;  which  would  make  it  half  as  high  again  as  the 
cross  on  St.  Paul's.  The  ascent  was  made,  we  are  told, 
by  a  winding  path  round  the  outside,  with  a  landing 
place,  and  seats  for  resting,  about  the  middle  of  the  way 
up ;  while  in  the  uppermost  tower  there  was  a  spacious 
temple  with  an  apartment  splendidly  furnished,  in  which 
stood  a  couch,  and  by  its  side  a  table  of  gold,i  for  the 
accommodation  of  Nebo,  the  god  to  whom  the  whole  was 
dedicated;  but  there  was  no  image  of  the  god  in  it, 
though  a  priestess  slept  in  the  chamber  at  night.  In 
the  temple  on  the  lowest  step,  there  was  a  golden  image 
of  Belus  on  a  throne  of  gold,  before  a  golden  table,  set 
on  a  golden  floor ;  and  another  golden  statue  of  the  god, 
24  feet  high,  stood  in  the  temple  enclosure,  till  Xerxes 
took  both  away. 

If  the  measurements  thus  given  by  these  ancient  au- 
thorities be  correct,  the  building  must  have  been  indeed 
immense,  for  the  Great  Pyramid  itself  is  only  750  feet 
square  at  its  base,  and  rises  to  a  height  of  only  480  feet ; 
whereas  this  tower,  from  a  square  base  of  over  600  feet, 
rose  120  feet  higher.  Its  vastness  may  indeed  b0~ 
gathered  from  the  fact  that  Alexander  the  Great  em- 
ployed 10,000  men  for  two  months  in  removing  the 
rubbish  which  at  his  day  had  fallen  from  it.  Nor  is 
there  any  good  ground  for  questioning  the  correctness  of 

*  Strabo  speaks  of  the  "  Tomb  of  Belus,"  but  it  is  clear  that  he 
means  the  tower. 


THE    FIRST   GLIMPSES   OP  NATIONAL   HISTORY. 


177 


the  old  Greek  liistorian,  for  the  tower  was  still  standinf» 
in  something  like  completeness  when  he  was  in  Babylon, 
though  Xerxes  had  rifled  it  of  its  treasures  and  dug  into 
it  in  search  of  them. 

Doubt  has,  however,  been  thrown  on  these  ancient 
accounts,  by  the  apparent  contradiction  between  this 
ff-oun tain-like  height  and  the  more  humble  proportions  of 
a  great  tower,  repaired  by  Nebuchadnezzar,  which  seems 
to  have  been  the  same  temple  of  Belus.  Two  copies 
of  an  inscription,  record  his  having  repaired  and  com- 
pleted "  The  Temple  of  the  Seven  Lights  or  Planets," 
of  the  earth ;  a  name  which  exactly  suits  the  description 
of  the  tower  of  Borsippa,  as  indeed  it  is  also  called. 
It  had  hitherto  remained  unfinished,  from  immemorial 
antiquity;  a  fact  strikingly  corroborative  of  the  narrative 
of  Genesis.  Nebuchadnezzar,  however,  tells  us  in  royal 
style,  "An  earlier  king  had  built  the  Temple  of  the 
Seven  Lights  of  the  Earth,  the  Tower  of  Borsippa,  to  a 
height  reckoned  at  eighty-four  feet, — but  he  had  not 
completed  it,  and  many  days  had  passed  since  then. 
There  was  no  proper  management  of  the  outflow-canals 
for  the  water  of  the  place.  Rain  and  storm  had  washed 
out  the  burned  bricks,  and  the  sun-dried  bricks  of  its 
roofing  were  cracked.  The  burned  bricks  of  the  Temple 
itself  had,  also,  been  washed  away  into  heaps  of  ruin. 
The  great  god  Merodach  put  it  into  my  mind  to  repair 
it;  but  I  did  not  meddle  with  the  site  and  I  left  the 
foundation  walls  untouched.  In  a  prosperous  month 
and  on  a  lucky  day  I  repaired  the  burned  bricks  of  the 
body  of  the  building,  and  the  sun-dried  bricks  of  the 
roofing,  joining  them  fast  by  mason- work ;  and  I 
renewed  the  woodwork  and  set  my  name  on  the  top  of 
its  rebuilt  walls.  I  raised  my  hand  to  finish  it  and  to  set 
up  its  top.     I  rebuilt  it  as  it  had  been  of  old,  and  raised 


278 


THE   FIRST   QLIMPSES   OF  NATIONAL    HISTORY. 


i 


its  top  as  it  had  been  in  those  days."'  Schrader  un- 
derstands tliat  Nebuchadnezzar  added  84  feet  to  tho 
ab'eudy  existing  tower,  thus  niakinj^  it  168  feet  high  in 
all,  but  this  hardly  seems  to  bo  implied  in  tho  inscription, 
pjbers,  on  tho  other  hand,  thinks  that  tho  present  l^irs 
Nimrud,  if  it  really  at  all  represent  tho  Tower  of  Babel, 
is  only  the  ruins  of  the  first  storey.**  Tho  multitudes  of 
similar  structures  in  Babylonia,  and  tho  distance  of  this 

*  Schrader's  translation.    Keilinschrifton,  p.  38. 
The  translation  by  Fox  Talbot  varies   somewhat  from    this. 
It  is  as  follows  : — 

Tho  Temple  of  the  Seven  Planets,  which  is  the  Tower  of  Borsippa, 

Which  former  kings  had  built  and  raised  to  the  height  of  forty- 
two  cubits, 

But  whose  upper  part,  not  having  been  finished  by  them, 

Had  rotted  away  from  extreme  old  age. 

The  watersprings  beneath  it  had  not  been  kept  in  order  i 

The  rain  and  the  tempest  had  ruined  its  buildings  : 

The  slabs  that  covered  it  had  fallen  off,  and  the  bricks  of  its  wall 
lay  scattered  in  heaps. 

Tho  great  Lord  Merodach  incited  my  heart  to  repair  it. 

Its  site  had  not  been  disturbed :  its  platform  had  not  been  des- 
troyed. 

In  a  fortunate  month  and  on  a  lucky  day 

I  collected  the  finest  of  the  bricks  of  its  wall  and  of  the  slabs  that 
covered  it,  and  rebuilt  the  ruins  firmly. 

I  placed  inscriptions  written  in  my  name  in  the  finest  apartments, 

And  thus  made  an  end  of  rebuilding  the  ruin  and  completinjjf  its 
upper  part.  Records  of  the  Past,  vol.  vii.  p.  76. 

I  omit  much  that  does  not  bear  on  the  repair  of  the  Tower. 

M.  Oppert  has  collected  all  the  notices  of  Birs  Nimrud,  and  of 
the  Tomb  of  Behis,  from  the  classics,  and  also  all  the  references 
to  them  in  the  cuneiform  inscriptions,  and  seems  to  not  a  fow  to 
have  proved  beyond  question  that  Birs  Nimrud  is  indeed  tho 
Tower  of  Babel.  See  La  Bible  et  les  Becouvertes  Modernes,  par 
L'Abbe  Vigouroux,  vol.  i.  p.  297. 

.    '  Eine  j^gyptisclie  Konigstochter,  vol.  ii.  p.  250  note. 


II2»Z: 


THE   FIRST  OLIMPSES   OP  NATIONAL   HISTORY. 


279 


ono  from  Babylon  itself,  seems  to  this  pfreat  scliolnr  to 
make  the  idcntiOcation  doubtful.  Ilowcvor  this  may  bo, 
it  is  curious  to  liud  how  estimates  vary ;  for  while 
Layard  gives  that  of  the  mound  at  198  feet,  witli  an 
ii(lditi(m  of  ti8  for  the  mass  of  brick- work  at  the  top, 
Kawlinson  speaks  of  it  as  only  153^  feet  high,  in  all; 
which  Schrader  compares  with  the  108  feet  ho  thinks  he 
has  obtained.  The  discrepancy  of  even  Layard's  figures, 
however,  with  those  of  Herodotus  and  Strabo,  is  extraor- 
dinary, nor  is  it  easy  to  see  how  it  can  be  explained, 
unless,  indeed,  the  labours  of  Alexander's  soldiers  had 
lowered  the  vast  mound  by  nearly  two-thirds,  or  Ebers  be 
right  in  his  conjecture,  that  all  that  remains  is  only  the 
wreck  of  the  lowest  storey. 

"Whether  these  gigantic  erections  belong  to  the  period 
to  which  the  eleventh  chapter  of  Genesis  refers,  is  of 
course  a  question,  but"  they  are  at  least  as  old  as  the 
earliest  records  of  profane  history.^     It  seems  certain, 
moreover,  even  apart  from  the  Bible,  that  a  great  empire,  f 
founded  by  one  known  ever  since  as  Nimrod,  absorbed  i_ 
the  whole  of  West  Asia,  shattering  the  Turanian  power,     / 
which  tAl  then  had  spread  itself  far  and  wide,  and  leav-     ^ 
ing  its  warlike  memorials  in  the  shape  of  towers,  castles,      / 
and  fortified  cities.     Assyria,  in  the  mountainous  north,    ■' 
may  have  been  only  an  extension  of  this  wide  dominion, 
but,  in  any  case,  Nimrod  was  the  Caesar  or  Napoleon 
of  the  fi^rst  races  of  men.     It  does  not  follow  from  this, 
however,  that  the  conception  of  him  in  tradition  as  an 
arch-rebel  against  God  is  correct,  nor  that  he  was,  as 
Josephus   supposed,  the   prime  mover  in   the   building 
of  the   Tower   of  Babel.'     The    phrase  used  of  him  in 

*  Schrader,  Keilinschriften,  p.  35,  thinks  that  Birs  Nimrud  is 
certainly  "  The  Tower  of  Babel." 


W'  I 


'H 


\\  y 


280 


THl;:   FIRST   QLIMPSES   OF  NATIONAL   HISTORY. 


Scripkire  seems  one  of  commendation  rather  than  blame  ; 
for  to  speak  of  him  as  "  a  mighty  one/'  that  is,  a  warrior 
hero,  ''  on  the  earth/'  and  as  "  a  mighfcy  hunter  before 
Jehovah/'  shows  that  the  bad  name  he  has  since  held  was 
not  attached  to  him  in  the  days  of  Moses ;  for  "  before 
Jehovah  "  is  a  phrase  equivalent  to  *•  well  pleasing  "  to 
Him,  as  is  seen  in  many  texts.^ 

The  building  and  arrest  of  "The  Tower  of  Babel/' 
and  the  "  confusion  of  tongues/'  are  evidently  connected 
with  this  glimpse  of  the  first  great  military  empire. 
Whether,  as  some  have  suggested,  the  phrase  "  the 
whole  earth,"  in  the  1st  verse  of  the  11th  chapter  of 
Genesis,  should  be  translated  "the  whole  land,"  is  a  point 
on  which  the  most  orthodox  may  safely  differ,  for  the 
word  is  sometimes  used  in  the  one  sense  and  sometimes 
in  the  other,  in  Scripture ;  as  we  have  already  seen  in 
connection  with  the  Flood.  The  narrative  carries  us 
back  to  a  period,  we  know  not  how  remote,  when  the 


*  Gen.  xvii.  1 ;  xxiv.  40 ;  xlviii.  15.  Ps.  xix.  14 ;  cxvi.  9.  See 
Gesenius*  Lexicon,  under  the  word  Jehovah.  Griveb  quotes  an 
Accadian  liturgy,  in  which  Merodach  is  called,  "  I  am  he  who 
walks  before  Ea — I  am  the  warrior,  the  eldest  son  of  Ea — the 
messenger."  Ea  undoubtedly  resembles  Jah  in  sound,  and  the 
who^o  phrase  is  strikingly  like  the  expressions  respecting  Nimrod 
in  Genesis.  The  words  translated  in  our  version,  "a  mighty 
hunter,"  are  rendered  in  the  Septaagint,  '*  a  giant  huntuf ;  "  in  the 
Vulgate,  "  a  valiant  hunter  " ;  in  the  Arabic,  '*  a  terrible  giant ;  " 
in  the  Syriac,  "a giant  warrior;  "  and  in  the  Ohaldee,  "a  valiant 
man."  "  To  walk  before  Jehovah"  is  the  ideal  of  a  godly  life  in 
Scripture.  Can  it  be,  asks  M.  Grivel,  that  the  word  "  walk  "  has 
been  lost  from  the  Hebrew  text  in  its  reference  to  Nimrod? 
There  is  at  least  very  little  doubt  that  the  great  king  was  deified 
after  his  death,  if  not  before  it,  for,  apart  from  the  meaning  of 
Merodach,  the  constellation  Orion  bears  in  Arabic  the  name  El 
Jabbar,  "  the  giant."  Orion  is  a  mighty  hunter  even  in  Homer. 
0dys8.f  xi.  672,  575. 


,■■    if 


THE    FIRST   GLIMPSES   OP   NATIONAL   HISTORY. 


281 


population    of     Mesopotamia     still     spoke    a    cornTnon 
dialect :  it  may  be  as  a  result  of  the  political  relations 
established  by  Nimrod's  empire.     In  the  childlike  lan- 
guage natural  to  a  document  which  has  reached  us  from 
the  infancy  of  the  world,   we    read   that  some   of   the 
races — now  united   under  one   sceptre — accustomed   to 
build  gigantic  towers,  in  imitation  of  the    distant  moun- 
tains from  which  their  forefathers  had  come,  determined 
to  found  a  city  which  should  boast  of  a  tower,  reaching, 
in  their  simple  conceptions,  to  heaven;  hoping  thus  at 
once  to  attract  the  favour  of  the  gods,  and  bind  all  the 
populations  round  to  one  grand  religious  centre.^    A  great 
catastrophe,  however,  brought  about  we  know  not  how, 
not   only   stopped  the    undertaking,    but    led    to    the 
population  being  scattered  "  abroad  "  from  the  plain  of 
Shinar,  "  upon  the  face  of  all  the  earth ; "  ''  confounding 
their  language,"  so  that  they  could  not  understand  one 
another's  speech.     Can  it  be  that  in  this  narration  we 
have  the  statement  of  the  immediate  cause  of  that  dis- 
persion of  mankind  from  their  original  common  home, 
which  led  to  the  divergence  of  human  speech  into  the 
three  great  branches — the   Turanian,    the  Semitic   and 
the  Aryan,  to  which  it  can  even  now  be  finally  traced 
back  ?     *'  Nothing,"  says  Max  Miiller,  "  necessitates  the 
admission  of  different  beginnings  for  the  formal  elements 
of  the  Turanian,  Semitic  and  Aryan  branches  of  speech."  * 


i'«;  )| 


1 


;.  11 


*  So  tho  Israelites  spoke  of  cities  "Walled  up  to  heaven," 
Deut.  i.  28 ;  and  so  Homer  speaks  of  a  pine  tree  reaching  to 
heaven.     Odyss.^  v.  239. 

2  Lectures  on  the  Srience  of  Language,  Ist  series,  p.  342.  F. 
Delitzsch, — Studien  uher  indogermanische  Wurzelverwandschaft, — 
has  collected  a  surprising  number  of  roots  common  to  Sanscrit 
and  Hebrew.  An  example  may  suffice.  The  word  gahal  means 
means  to  call,  in  Hebrew,  Assyrian  and  Aramaic.    In  tho  same 


232 


THE   FIRST   GLIMPSES   OF   NATIONAL  HISTOBT. 


i ' 


While  these  three  great  families  of  language  are  charac« 
terized  by  wide  distinctions  in  form  and  structure,  there 
is  at  the  same  time  such  an  amount  of  similarity  in  the 
leading  roots  of  all  as  would  indicate  something  like  a 
common  origin.  "It  is  possible  even  now/'  says  Pro- 
fessor Miiller,  "to  point  out  radicals  which,  under 
various  changes  and  disguises,  have  been  current  in  the 
three  branches  ever  since  their  first  separation/' 

"  What  could  be  more  fitting,"  asks  Bunsen,  "  than  to 
recognise  in  this  narrative,  the  account  of  the  division 
of  Central  Asiatic  mankind  into  those  three  great  world- 
historical  races,  which  form  in  themselves  a  unity,  and 
to  which  we  are  now  in  a  position  to  trace  back  all 
the  peoples  of  Asia  and  Europe  Jcnown  to  us  by  their 
speech  ?  Research  respecting  these  three  races,  the 
Turanians,  the  Semites,  and  the  Aryans,  leads  us  to  a 
great  common  centre — the  district  bounded  by  the 
mountains  of  Central  Asia — the  Caucasus,  Ararat  and 
the  Altai."  i 

Bunsen  sees  in  the  narration  a  hint  of  the  providential 
breaking  up  of  Nimrod's  empire,  and  the  subsequent  dis- 
persion of  the  population  ;  resulting  in  such  a  formation 
of  dialects  and  languages  no  longer  understood  except 
by  the  tribes  in  which  they  had  sprung  up,  as  happened 
at  the  dissolution  of  the  Eoman  empire.  Five  or  six 
idioms — the  Italian,  French,  Spanish,  Wallachian  and 
Italian  were  then  developed  from  the  Latin,  which  had 
previously  been  common  to  all  the  countries  in  which 
these  new  forms  of  speech  arose.  This  is  ingenious, 
and  does  not  exclude  the  direct  action  of  God  in  the 
result;    for  His  course  is  no  less  providential,  whether 

way  haleo,  in  Greek,  means  to  call,  and  eoncil'mm,  in  Latin,  means 
ft  body  of  people  called  together  (p.  90). 
'  Bunsen's  Bihel  Urkunden,  vol.  i.  p.  76. 


THE   FIRST  GLIMPSES   OP  NATIONAL  HISTORY. 


283 


sudden,  or  working  by  the  slow  operation  of  natural 
laws.  The  growth  of  a  tree  in  a  hundred  years  is  as 
truly  Divine  as  if  it  grew  in  a  night.  In  both  cases  God 
alone  brought  it  about.  "  There  is  no  reason/'  sa  j  an 
acute  critic  of  bygone  days,  "  why  we  should  think  the 
confusion  of  tongues  the  work  of  a  moment  j  for  details 
could  not  be  given  in  so  short  a  notice.  Who  does  not 
see  that  the  early  days  of  the  human  race  are  lure  given 
with  the  utmost  brevity,  and  that  the  annalo  of  many 
years  are  crowded  between  a  few  commas  ?  It  is  more 
likely  that  discord  was  first  sent  among  men,  and  that 
from  this  cause^  leaving  the  work  unfinished,  they  scat- 
tered into  neighbouring  regions,  and  gradually  wandered 
farther  and  farther  off;  and  that  their  langu?ige3 
gradually  changed  as  they  were  thus  isolated  over  the 
face  of  the  earth.  The  facts  may  have  been  brought 
succinctly  together  by  Moses  in  his  compendious  narra- 
tive, but  those  interpreters  surely  err  who  think  that 
they  were  carried  out  to  completion  by  God  almost  as 
quickly  as  the  verses  themselves  are  read."  i 

An  event  so  striking  could  not  fail  to  perpetuate 
itself,  more  or  less,  in  the  traditions  of  the  region,  and, 
hence,  it  was  only  what  might  have  been  expected,  when 
the  early  legends  of  Creation  and  the  Flood  were  re- 
covered from  Assyria,  that  some  reference  should  also  be 
found  to  the  Conr^sion  of  Tongues.  Unfortunately,  the 
tablets  relating  to  it,  which  were  brought  to  England 
by  the  lamented  George  Smith,  are  sadly  mutilated,  but 
even  in  their  fragmentary  state  they  are  of  great  interest. 
So  far  as  they  are  intelligible  they  run  as  follows : 

"  The  thoughts  of  men's  hearts  were  evil,  so  that  the 
father  of  the  gods  turned  from  them.  Babylon  had 
corruptly  turned  to  sin,  and  set  about  building  a  great 

*  Cierici,  Comment  in  Geneein,  p.  105. 


) 


; 


•  m 


281 


THE   FIRST   GLIMPSES   OF   NATIONAL   HISTORY. 


Tower.  Small  and  great  mingled  at  the  task,  raising  the 
mound.  This  they  did  all  the  day,  raising  up  their 
stronghold ;  but  in  the  night  the  god  Anu  entirely  made 
an  end  of  it.  In  his  anger,  also,  he  poured  out  before 
the  gods  his  secret  counsel  to  scatter  them  abroad,  and 
set  his  face  against  them,  and  for  this  end  gave  a  com- 
mand to  make  strange  their  speech,  and  thus  hinder 
their  progress.  Numantir — the  god  of  confusion — ^having 
gone  down,  they  violently  resisted  him,  but  he  cast 
them  to  the  earth  when  they  would  not  stop  their  work. 
They  revolted  against  the  gods,  but  sorely  they  wept  for 
Babylon,  and  grieved  very  much  (when  their  work  was 
stopped  and  they  were  scattered  abroad).'' 

Echoes  of  the  same  tradition  have  reached  us  from 
other  sources  also.  A  quotation  by  Eusebius,  from  Aby- 
denus,  a  Greek  historian,  who  lived  about  two  hundred 
years  before  Christ,  informs  us  that  *'The  Assyrians 
relate  that  the  first  men,  sprang  from  the  earth,  defiant 
in  their  strength  and  giant  size,  and  despising  the  gods, 
in  the  belief  that  they  themselves  were  their  superiors, 
undertook  to  build  a  high  tower  on  the  spot  where 
Babylon  now  stands.  It  had  already  almost  reached 
heaven,  when  the  winds,  aiding  the  gods,  threw  down  the 
huge  mass  on  the  heads  of  the  builders ;  and  from  these 
ruins  Babylon  was  built.  And  whereas  men,  till  then, 
had  all  spoken  the  same  language,  henceforth,  by  the 
operation  of  the  gods,  they  spoke  in  different  languages."^ 

Nor  is  even  Western  Antiquity  without  a  tradition 
of  the  same  kind.  Homer  sings  how  "  the  two  giants 
began  to  set  Ossa  on  Olympus  and  Pelion  on  Ossa,  that 
they  might  climb  to  heaven ;  and  would  have  succeeded, 

*  Smith's  Chaldean   O'inesis,  pp.   160-162.    Chad  Boscawen, 
Trans.  Bib.  Arch.,  vol.  v.  pp.  304-311. 
^  Euseb.,  Prc&paratio  Evangelica,  ix.  c.  14. 


))9 


THE   FIRST   GLIMPSES  OP   NATIONAL   HISTORY. 


285 


had  they  reached  the  age  of  manhood.  But  the  Son  of 
Jovo  destroyed  thera  both  before  the  hair  had  grown  on 
their  cheeks  or  the  down  on  their  chins."  * 

Even  in  the  New  World,  indeed,  there  seems  to  have 
been  a  vivid  remembrance  in  the  ancient  Indian  races  of 
such  a  stupendous  event  as  Genesis  records.  A  Mexican 
manuscript,  in  the  Vatican  library,  relates  that,  "  Before 
the  great  inundation  '^hich  took  place  four  thousand 
eight  hundred  years  after  the  creation  of  the  world,  the 
country  of  Anahuac  was  inhabited  by  giants.  All  who  did 
not  perish  in  the  flood  were  turned  into  fishes,  except 
seven,  who  fled  into  caverns.  When  the  waters  subsided, 
one  of  the  giants,  surnamed  the  Architect,  went  to 
Cholula,  where,  as  a  memorial  to  the  mountain  Ilaloe, 
which  had  served  as  a  refuge  to  himself  and  his  six 
brethren,  he  built  an  artificial  hill  in  the  form  of  a 
pyramid.  He  ordered  bricks  to  be  made  at  the  foot  of 
the  hills,  and  placed  a  file  of  men  who  passed  them  from 
hand  to  hand.  But  the  gods  beheld  with  wrath  this 
building,  the  top  of  which  was  to  reach  the  clouds,  and 
irritated  at  such  an  attempt,  hurled  fire  on  the  pyramid. 
Numbers  of  the  workmen  perished,  the  work  was  dis- 
continued, and  the  portion  built  was  dedicated  to  the  god 
of  the  air.'*  ^  We  are  further  told,  that  at  the  time  of 
the  Spanish  conquest,  the  ruins  of  this  pyramid  were 
still  called  "  the  mountain  of  unburnt  brick.''  ^ 

The  Jewish  traditions  of  the  building  of  the  Tower 
are  so  curious  that  they  deserve  to  be  given. 

*  Odyss.,  xi.  315.  The  passage  refers  to  two  giant  sons  of 
Iphitnedia  and  Neptune.     Ovid  repeats  the  fable,  Met.,  i.  151. 

^  Humboldt's  Researches,  vol.  i.  p.  96. 

•  The  Migration  from  Shinar,  by  Captain  G.  Palmer,  R.N., 
contains  a  great  many  interesting  facts  as  td  the  early  settlement 
o£  America. 


!■  I' 


!  1 


111 


280 


THE   FIRST   GLIMPSES   OF  NATIONAL   HISTORY. 


''  After  the  Flood/'  say  the  Rabbis,  "  men  were  afraid 
of  another  similar  visitation,  and  forsook  Palestine,  the 
pleasant  land,  where  Noah  had  last  lived  and  sacrificed, 
and  settled  all  together  in  one  place,  the  plains  of  Shinar, 
There  they  no  longer  yielded  themselves  to  the  gentle 
guidance  of  godly  Shem,  the  son  of  Noah,  but  cast  away 
from  themselves  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  did  homage 
to  Nimrod,  the  son  of  Cush,  the  son  of  Ham.  For 
Nimrod  was  a  man  mighty  in  strength  and  in  power. 
Born  when  his  father  was  old,  he  was  dearly  loved  by 
him,  and  received  from  him  a  gift  of  the  robe  with  which 
God  had  first  clothed  Adam,  when  he  had  to  leave 
Paradise.  This  robe  had  passed  from  Adam  to  Enoch, 
and  from  him  to  Methusaleh  and  to  Noah,  who  took  it 
with  him  in  the  ark.  There  it  was  stolen  by  Ham  and 
given  secretly  by  him  to  his  son  Cush.  Nimrod,  when 
clothed  with  it,  was  irresistible  and  invincible.  The 
birds  and  beasts  of  the  woods  fell  before  him,  and  he 
conquered  all  his  enemies  easily.  Thus  he  made  himself 
king  of  Babylon,  and  extended  his  rule  continually,  till, 
by  his  cunning,  he  made  men  regard  him  as  the  lord  of 
the  whole  earth,  and  persuaded  them  to  look  no  longer 
to  God,  but  to  trust  only  to  their  own  powers.  Hence 
it  was  said  that  since  the  beginning  of  the  world  there 
was  no  one  like  Nimrod,  terrible  and  mighty  in  destroy- 
ing— by  the  chase  and  by  his  words — and  sinful  in  the 
sight  of  God.'' 

*'  The  longer  Nimrod  sat  on  his  throne,  the  prouder  he 
became.  Having  failed  to  kill  the  babe  Abraham,  as  he 
desired,  he  slew  70,000  children,  in  the  hope  that  the 
dreaded  child  might  be  among  them.  He  was  full  of 
forebodings  that  his  empire  would  fall,  and  that  a  man 
should  rise  who  would  revive  that  of  Him  to  whom  alone 
all  the  glory  and  the  majesty  of  earth  rightly  belong.     To 


THB   FIRST   QLIMFSES  OF  NATIONAL   HI  STOUT. 


2S7 


prevent  this,  and  to  turn  men  wholly  from  God,  ho 
assembled  his  entu'e  people,  aud  said  to  them,  *  Come, 
let  us  build  a  great  city,  and  establish  ourselves  in  it, 
that  we  may  not  be  scattered  over  the  whole  earth,  and 
drowned  in  a  flood,  as  happened  to  our  forefathers/  At 
that  time  the  idea  had  got  abroad  that  God  intended  to 
disperse  men,  the  better  to  get  them  under  His  power. 
'  Let  us  raise  in  the  midst  of  the  city  a  tower  so  high 
that  no  flood  could  rise  above  it,  so  strong  that  no  fire, 
should  one  break  out,  could  destroy  it.  Yes,  let  us  do 
still  more,  let  us  build  it  up  into  the  heavens,  and  stay  it 
on  them,  on  all  its  four  sides,  that  it  be  steady,  and  that 
the  waters  in  the  skies  may  not  fall  on  us.  Let  us  there- 
fore raise  the  top  up  to  heaven,  and  cleave  the  sky  with 
axes,  that  its  waters  may  run  out,  and  never  again  bring 
us  into  danger,  and,  so,  we  will  avenge  the  destruction  of 
our  forefathers.  Thus  we  will  fight  the  Ruler  of  heaven, 
whose  power  lies  only  in  these  waters,  and  we  will  hurl 
arrows  and  darts  at  him,  and  set  an  idol  image  on  the  top 
of  the  tower,  with  a  sword  in  its  hand,  to  fight  the  King 
of  heaven  for  us.  Thus  shall  we  gain  a  great  name,  aud 
rule  over  the  whole  world.' 

"Though  all  were  not  so  foolish  as  to  think  of  conquer- 
ing heaven,  and  driving  God  from  His  throne,  yet  they 
complied  with  Nimrod's  wishes.  Many  saw  in  the  tower 
a  real  safeguard  against  men  being  scattered,  or  drowned 
by  a  flood.  Others  believed  the  scheme  would  advance 
the  idolatry  they  loved.  Therefore  600,000  men,  among 
whom  were  1,000  princes,  set  to  work  to  build  the  tower, 
and  raised  it  till  its  top  was  seventy  miles  high.  When 
stone  failed  they  had  to  burn  bricks  and  carry  them  up ; 
to  help  them  in  which  there  were  steps  on  the  east  side 
for  those  going  to  the  .  top,  and  on  the  west  for  those 
coming  down.     But  the  height  and  breadth  of  the  tower 


;  i 


\i    ? 


t  ii 


288 


THE   FIRST  GLIMPSES  OF   NATIONAL    RISTOBT. 


! 


! 


IW;! 


m^Z: 


were  such  that  when  the  builders  ran  short  of  anything  it 
was  a  year  before  they  could  get  it.  If  a  workman  fell 
from  the  top  it  gave  no  one  concern,  but  if  a  brick  gave 
way,  or  fell  over,  it  caused  loud  outcries  and  lamentations. 
The  arrows  which  they  shot  off  into  the  sky  came  back 
covered  with  blood,  so  that  in  their  folly  they  shouted, 
'  Sec,  we  have  killed  all  that  is  in  heaven.' 

*'  Abraham  was  forty-eight  years  old  when  he  saw  this 
tower,  the  wickedness  and  folly  of  which  he  at  once  felt 
so  deeply,  that  he  drew  near  and  earnestly  implored  the 
builders  to  abandon  the  undertaking.  But  they  laughed 
at  him,  and  despised  him  as  they  would  the  stone  lying 
on  the  earth.  Then  he  raised  his  voice  and  cried  to  God, 
'  0  Lord,  confound  and  divide  their  speech,  for  I  see  only 
violence  and  hate  in  this  city.'  And  the  Lord  called  the 
seventy  angels  who  are  round  His  throne,  and  commanded 
them  to  confound  the  speech  of  the  builders,  so  that  they 
should  no  longer  understand  each  other.  Hence  they  had 
to  give  up  building  any  more,  and  were  divided  into 
seventy  peoples  speaking  as  many  different  languages." 

"  rhe  upper  third  of  the  tower  was  destroyed  by  fire, 
the  lowest  part  overthrown  by  an  earthquake,  the  middle 
only  remaining." 

If  this  strange  medley  of  fancies  be  worth  nothing 
more,  it  at  least  shows  the  kind  of  Biblical  exposition  in 
which  the  Rabbis  delighted. 

The  hieroglyphics  of  Egypt  add  their  testimony  to  the 
recital  of  Moses.  "  Egyptian  traditions,"  says  M.  Chabas, 
''agree  in  a  remarkable  manner  with  the  statements  of 
Genesis.  They  attribute  the  dispersion  of  nations  to  a 
revolt  of  the  wicked.  In  the  texts  of  Edfou,  published  by 
Naville,  we  read  that  the  good  principle  under  the  solar 
form  of  Karmachis,  triumphed  over  its  adversaries  in  the 
region  south  of  the  nome  Apolliuop  elites.     Of  those  who 


THE    FIRST   GLIMPSES   OF   NATIONAL    DISTORT. 


289 


escnped  the  massacre,  some  emigrated  to  tlie  south,  and 
becatno  the  Cushites;  others  to  the  north  and  became  tho 
Amou  ;  a  third  column,  to  the  west,  and  became  the  Tama- 
hou  J  and  a  fourth,  to  the  east,  and  became  the  Shasou. 
lu  this  enumeration  the  Cushites  include  the  negroes. 
The  Turnahou  are  the  white  race  of  the  north  of  Africa, 
the  isles  of  the  Mediterranean,  and  Europe.  Among  the 
Amou  figure  all  the  great  nations  of  Central  and  Eastern 
Asia — Palestine,  Syria,  Asia  Minor,  Chaldea,  and  Arabia, 
with  the  Bedouin  of  the  deser*^^  and  of  '  the  mountains 
of  Asia/  Such  was  the  Egyptian  division  of  the  great 
families  of  mankind." 

"  It  may  be  noted  that  the  red,  yellow,  black  and  white 
races  were  all,  more,  or  less,  under  the  direction  and 
protection  cf  the  gods  of  Egypt,  and  that  a  place  was 
made  for  the  whole  in  the  lower  heaven.  .  .  .  The 
Egyptians  considered  all  foreigners  as  branches  of  a  great 
stem  of  which  they  themselves  were  the  chief  offshoot. 
They  believed,  moreover,  that  when  mankind  dispersed, 
at  a  time  veiled  in  the  twilight  of  mythology,  they  already 
knew  the  metals,  and  writing;  could  erect  great  build- 
ings, and  possessed  a  social  and  rehgious  organisation."  ^ 

The  legend  thus  referred  to  seems  to  have  been  origin- 
ally an  Egyptian  version  of  the  story  of  the  Flood.  In  it, 
as  in  Genesis,  men  are  punished  for  a  revolt  against  God, 
who  exterminates  all  but  a  few.  A  sacrifice  is  however 
offered,  and  Ho  promises  never  again  to  destroy  the  race 
iu  this  way.  But,  as  has  been  noticed,  since  a  flood  was 
the  symbol  and  source  of  all  prosperity  and  happiness, 
as  associated  in  the  Egyptian  mind  with  the  overflow 
of  the  Nile,  they  altered  the  tradition  to  suit  their 
own  ideas ;  and  while  causing  men  to  perish  by  the 
direct  action  of  the  gods,  substituted  an  inundation  as  a 
*  Etudes  8ur  VAntiquite  Ristorique,  pp.  97-100. 

VOL.  I,  ir 


^t. 


•^^ 


f  'A 


290 


THE    FIRST   GLIMPSES   OP    NATIONAL    HISTORY. 


1 


sign  of  their  being  appeased,  in  place  of  the  rainbow  of 
Noah.^  Ra,  the  god  by  whom  men  were  destroyed,  be- 
gan his  reign,  it  may  bo  addcnl,  before  the  firmament  was 
set  over  the  earth,  so  tliat  the  higend  refers  to  the  earhest 
times  of  the  world.^ 

How  many  storeys  of  the  Tower  of  Babel  had  been 
raised,  when  the  work  was  suddenly  stopped  by  Divine 
interference,  is  not  told  us  in  Genesis,  but  it  appears 
certain  that  the  seven  to  which  Nebuchadnezzar  carried 
it  had  not  been  reached.  Seven  was  a  sacred  number  of 
the  Babylonians  as  well  as  of  the  Hebrews,  and  we  may 
be  sure  that  it  was  originally  intended  to  raise  it  to  that 
height,  else  it  would  not  have  been  thought  necessary 
to  rebuild  it  on  such  a  scale.  From  the  form  of  other 
towers  of  which  the  ruins  still  remain,  we  may  form  some 
>dtimate  of  the  condition  in  which  this  first  one  was  left 
when  so  abruptly  stopped.  In  the  great  tower-temple  of 
Ur  there  were  only  three  storeys,  and  in  the  bas  relief  at 
Kouyundjik,  that  of  another  city  is  represented  with  five. 
For  these  and  others,  in  the  larger  cities  of  Babylon  and 
Assyria,^  the  Tower  of  Babel,  the  oldest  and  most  re- 
nowned, probably  servad  as  a  model,  and  v^  e  may  safely 
conclude  that,  if  it  had  not  been  left  unfinished,  the  sacred 
number  seven  would  not  have  been  departed  from  in 
others.*  , 

*  Naville.  Trans.  8oc.  Bib.  Arch.,  vol.  iv.  pp.  1  ff.  Records  of 
the  Past,  vol.  vi.  p.  103.    See  p.  202. 

8  Zeitschrift  fiir  ^gi/ptische  Sprache  (1874),  p.  57. 

*  Place,  Ninive  et  VAssyrie,  vol.  ii.  p.  58. 

*  The  Abbe  Vigoiiroux  derives  the  word  Ziggarat,  the  Assyrian 
name  for  these  towers,  from  Zakar,  "  to  remember,"  "  to  keep  in 
mind,"  so  that  it  would  mean  "a  memorial,"  "that  which  will 
preserve  the  name  or  memory."  If  this  be  right,  it  is  in  striking 
accordance  with  the  words  of  Genesis,  "  Let  us  make  us  a  name  " 
("  mark,"  or  "  memorial  "),  cb.  xi.  4.     Vigourousc,  vol.  i.  p.  311. 


t-^ 


THE   FIRST  GLIMPSES  OF  NATIONAL   BISTORT. 


291 


The  derivation  of  the  word  Babel,  in  Genesis,  from 
Balal,  "to  confound/'  has,  as  already  said,  bitterly  found 
less  favour  among  philological  students  than  that  from 
Bab-El,  the  gate  or  temple  of  the  god  El.^  But  the  spelling 
of  names  changes  greatly  in  the  course  of  time,  and  thia 
change  affects  their  apparent  origin.  Thus  Bethlehem 
originally  meant  "  house  of  bread/'  but  its  present  Arabic 
form,  Beit-lahm,  means  *'  house  of  flesh."  Oppert,  in  a 
similar  way,  has  shown  that  however  apt  the  new  etymology 
of  Babel  may  be,  as  the  word  is  now  spelt ;  it  originally 
meant,  as  the  Bible  tells  us,  simply  *'  confusion."  Still 
more,  the  form  "  Babel  "  itself  is  proved  by  him  to  be  a 
distinctly  Assyrian  derivation,  from  Balal,  "to  confound;" 
while,  if  it  had  come  through  the  Hebrew,  it  would  have 
been  "  Bilbal,"  or  "  Bilbur,"  the  actual  Rabbinical  word 
for  "  confusion."^  In  the  same  way  "  Borsippa  "  means 
"  The  tower  of  languages,"  though  changed  in  later  times 
to  Bar  Sab,  "  The  shattered  altar."  Moreover,  the  cha- 
racter by  which  it  is  represented  in  the  Assyrian  tablets, 
means,  strange  to  say,  in  the  opinion  of  Oppert,  "  The 
city  of  the  dispersion  of  the  tribes."  ^ 

The  Jewish  tradition  on  pp.  286  ff.  is  from  Beer,  Leben  Ahraham*8f 
pp.  7-9. 

'  A.  Maury.  Bevue  dea  Deux  Mondes  (March  15, 1868),  p.  477. 
See  also,  before,  p.  28. 

2  Buxtorf,  309. 

'  Oppert,  Journal  Asiatique,  vol.  x.  p.  220 ;  vol.  ix.  p.  503.  Le* 
uormant,  Langue  Primitive  de  la  Chaldeef  p.  355. 


/ 


tVi 


!l       4 


:  t,l 


*'i 


I 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

THE   FIKST   BEGINNINGS   OP   THE    HEBREW  NATION. 

IN  the  genealogical  table  of  the  tenth  chapter  of  Gene- 
sis, Heber,  the  founder  of  the  Hebrew  race,  is  classed 
among  the  sons  of  Shem,  through  Arphaxad,  and  along 
■with  Elatn,  Asshur,  Lud,  and  Aram.  In  other  words, 
the  Hebrews  are  connected  by  common  descent,  with  the 
people  of  Elymais  or  Elam  on  the  Persian  Gulf,  east  of  the 
Tigris  ;  with  the  Assyrians  on  the  north-east  of  that  river ; 
with  the  people  of  Arphaxad,  still  farther  north,  among 
the  mountains  of  Southern  Armenia,  immediately  east 
of  what  is  now  the  Lake  Van  ;  with  the  Lydians  and  the 
Semitic  peoples  of  Asia  Minor ;  and  with  the  Aramean 
or  Syrian  nations  stretching,  thence,  south-east,  to  the 
Euphrates. 

The  tie  by  which  the  Hebrews  felt  themselves  thus 
linked  to  these  widely  separated  nations  could  hardly  have 
been  their  similarity  of  language  :  for  the  different  tribes 
which  bordered  or  settled  in  Palestine  from  the  earliest 
ages,  likewise  spoke  Semitic  dialects,  connected  as  closely 
as  possible  with  the  Hebrew ;  and  yet  they  were  never 
regarded  as  related  to  Israel.  Nor  did  any  special  in- 
timacy on  their  part  with  the  chosen  people  account  for 
the  connection  recognised,  for  from  an  early  age  the  Jews 
were  only  a  small  tribe  living  far  away  in  the  remote 
BOuth-west.      It  seems  rather,  as  if   a  strong  tradition 

298 


i:-^* 


THB   FIRST   DEQINNINOS   OF  THB   HEBREW   NATION.     20;) 


linj^ered  among  that  race  of  a  pi'iraitivo  connoction  with 
them,  either  political,  or  religious,  or  both ;  as  if,  in  (^iiily 
ages,  the  fivo  future  nationalities  had  formed  one  common 
State  in  the  oast,  before  their  ancient  confederacy  was 
dissolved.  The  war  of  the  various  eastern  kings,  men- 
tioned in  the  fourteenth  of  Genesis,  speaks  of  the  likeli- 
hood of  still  earlier  political  revolutions  in  these  regions  ; 
while  the  traditions  of  Nimrod's  attempt  to  found  a  world 
empire,  points,  it  may  be,  to  the  causes  of  wide  national 
disruption.^ 

It  is  worthy  of  special  remembrance  in  this  connection, 
even  at  the  risk  of  repetition,  that  though  for  the  last 
fifty  years  all  the  peoples  speaking  a  language  related  to 
the  Hebrew  have  been  called  Semitic,  the  term  is  vague 
and  indefinite.  In  antiquity  only  a  part  of  these  races 
were  known  by  this  name ;  and  though  such  nations  aa 
the  Phenicians,  Philistines,  and  others,  who  spoko 
languages  more  or  less  identical  with  the  Hebrew,  may 
have  oiiginally  had  the  same  common  home  as  Israel, 
in  an  unknown  pre-historical  period — they  were  no 
longer  reckoned  by  the  Hebrews  in  Palestine  as  related 
to  them,  but  as  wholly  foreign.  Israel,  in  fact,  be- 
longed to  an  entirely  distinct  division  of  the  same 
original  stock.^ 

The  tribe  to  which  Abraham,  the  great  forefather  of 
the  Hebrews  belonged,  had  its  original  seat  in  the  dis- 
trict named  from  Arphaxad,'  the  heaS  of  the  race,  and 
hence  known  to  the  Greeks  and  Romans  by  the  name  of 

1  In  connection  with  the  traditions  of  a  queen  called  Semiramis 
having  founded  Damascus  and  Askelon.it  is  curious  to  notice  that 
Semiramis  was  used  as  a  Jewish  name,  in  the  form  Shemiramoth, 
{masc.)  as  far  back  as  David's  time.    See  1  Ohron.  xv.  18,  20  ;  xvL  6, 

2  Ewald,  Geschichte,  vol.  i.  p.  404. 
»  Gen.  X.  22. 


i'\ 


lis 


•■   Jj 


294     THE   FIRST   BEQINNINGS   OP  THE   HEBREW    NATION. 

Arrapachitis.  It  lies  north  of  Assyria  in  th^  mountains 
of  Southern  Armenia,  straight  south  of  the  modern  city 
of  Kars  and  of  Mount  Ararat,  and  is  a  tangle  of  wild 
hills,  rising  often  to  great  heights,  but  intersected  by 
fruitful  valleys.^  The  name  Arphaxad,  in  itself,  indeed, 
bears  witness  to  the  earliest  nationality  of  the  region,  for 
it  seems  to  mean  "The  stronghold  of  the  Chaldeans."  * 

The  name  Hebrew,  first  given  to  Abraham^  by  the 
Canaanites,  and  then  to  his  descendants,  as  those  who 
had  come  from  beyond  the  great  river  Euphrates,*  is 
handed  down  as  that  given  by  Israel  also,  in  the  form 
of  Heber,  to  the  ancient  founder  of  their  race.  But  the 
first  glimpse  of  tribal  life  appears  in  the  migration  of 
Terah,  the  father  of  Abraham,  from  his  native  mountains 
to  the  plains  of  Mesopotamia  j  though  it  may  be  that  in 
the  names  of  earlier  generations  we  have  some  hints 
of  their  remoter  movements  and  history.  Thus,  Peleg, 
"  a  dividing," — Heber's  son, — seems  to  point  to  the  separ- 
ation of  the  Arabian  branch  of  Joktan  from  the  future 
Hebrew  stem ,  ^  Reu,  "  the  friend,"  perhaps  reminds 
us  of  Abraham's  tender  relation  to  Jehovah,  though 
it  may  hint  only  at  a  maker  of  alliances  among  the 
hill  tribes  J  Serug,  still  the  name  of  a  district  a  day's 
journey  north  of  Harran,  has  the  warlike  sense  of  "  the 
strong  one  "  ;  Nahor  seems  to  mean  "  the  slayer  " ; 
Terah,  "tho  wanderer";  and  Haran,  "the  hill-man." 
What  led  Terah  to  emigrate  with  his  tribe  is  not  told  us ; 

*  Diet  of  Geog.,  art.  Armenia,  voL  i 
^  Ewald,  vol.  i.  p.  406. 

'  Gen.  xiv.  13. 

*  From  the  Hebrew  verb,  "  to  cross  over." 

*  Gen.  X.  25.  Mr.  Cyril  Graham  thinks  that  Peleg,  which  also 
means  a  river  or  water-course,  refers  to  the  cutting  of  some  of 
those  canals  which  are  found  in  such  numbers  between  the  Tigris 
and  the  Euphrates.     Cambridge  Essays,  I8b8.  ...... 


THE    FIRST   BEGINNINGS   OF   THE    HEBREW   NATION.     295 


possibly  it  was  the  same  fierce  pressure  of  tribes 
advancing  from  beyond,  which  commonly  led  to  such 
movements ;  or  perhaps  it  was  a  desire  to  share  the  rich 
pasture  of  the  lowlands.  His  family  consisted  of  three 
sons,  and  one  daughter,  Sarah,  the  future  wife  of  her 
half-brother  Abraham;  for  though  the  children  of  dif- 
ferent mothers  they  had  a  common  father.  One  son, 
Haran,  died  in  "  Ur  of  the  Chaldees,^'  ''  the  land  of  his 
nativity,"  leaving  as  his  descendant,  Lrt,  *'a  veil"  or 
''covering,"  who  afterwards  passed  on  to  Canaan  with 
Abraham.  Nahor,  the  second  son,  stopped  on  the  way, 
at  Harran,  and  became  the  grandfather  of  Laban,  "  the 
white  Syrian,"  and  Rebekah,  the  mother  of  Jacob  and 
Esau.  Milcah,  ''  the  counsellor,"  a  daughter  of  Haran, 
and  wife  of  Terah's  son  Nahor, — and  Sarah,  first  called 
Sarai,  *'  the  princely  one,"  then  Sarah,  *'  the  princess ; "  ' 
with  Iscah,  "she  looks  abroad,"  another  daughter  of 
Haran  not  mentioned  elsewhere,  made  up  the  aggregate 
heads  of  the  tribe. 

There  has  been  no  little  dispute  as  to  the  locality  of 
"  Ur  of  the  Clialdees,"  spoken  of  as  the  native  land  of 
Haran.2  The  name  Uru  has  been  found  on  tablets  dug 
from  the  ruins  now  known  as  El  Mugheir,  to  the  south 
of  Babylon  and  east  of  the  Euphrates,^  and  this  is  ap- 
parently beyond  question  the  region ;  for  apart  from  the 
testimony  of  the  ruins  themselves,  it  was  still  known  as 
"  the  place  of  the  Chaldees  "  shortly  before  the  Christian 
era.*    It  has,  indeed,  been  thought  by  many  that  it  lay 


*  Fiirsfc  makes  Sarai  mean  "  Jehovah  is  Lord.'* 
a  Gen.  xi.  28,  31. 

■  Schrader,  Keilinscliriften  p.  42.     See  also  Oppert's  proofs  in 
the  Jour,  of  Roij.  Asiatic  Soc,  vol.  xv.  (1855),  pp.  260-276. 

*  Eupolemus,  a    Greek  writer,  quoted    by  Eusebius,   PrcB^, 
Eva7ig.,  ix.  17.  > 


296     THE   FIRST   BEQINNINQS   OF   THE    HEBREW   NATION* 


in  the  north,  but  the  identification  of  the  city  with 
Edessa^  and  other  places  enti  'ely  fails.  It  seems  prob- 
able that  Ur  became  the  name  of  a  district  as  well  as  of 
a  city,  for  the  Greek  Bible  translates  it  "  the  country  of 
the  Chaldeans":  a  name  given,  apparently  in  later  times, 
when  the  race  thus  known  migrated  thither  from  the 
same  mountainous  north  as  had  been  the  cradle  of  the 
Hebrews.^ 

The  ruins  of  Mugheir  rise  on  the  west  side  of  the 
Euphrates,  in  a  vast  mound  so  strewn  with  remains  of 
bricks  cemented  by  bitumen  that  the  present  name, 
which  means  "the  town  of  asphalte  or  bitumen,"  has 
been  given  it  from  the  fact.  The  plain  around  is  so  flat 
and  low  that  when  the  stream  swells  each  year,  the  whole 
region  becomes  a  lake,  with  Mugheir  risiug  in  its  midst, 
approachable  only  by  a  boat.*  But  it  was  very  different 
4,000  years  ago.  The  city  was  then  flourishing;  the  arts 
and  sciences  were  cultivated ;  astronomers  watched  the 
heavens ;  poets  composed  hymns  and  epics,  and  patient 
scribes  stamped,  on  soft  clay  tablets,  the  books  which  have 
in  part  come  down  to  our  day.  For  the  ancient  race 
which  lived  in  these  lands  were,  beyond  most,  given  to 
writing  and  i'  >ading.  There  were  libraries  at  Senkereh, 
Babylon,  Borsippa,  Cutha,  Accad,  Ur,  Erech,  Larsa, 
Nippur,  Kalah.  Chergat,  Oalah,  and  Nineveh.*  The 
waters  of  the  Euphrates,  moreover, — "the  life  of  the 
land," — did  not  then  flood  the  country,  but  spread  in  a 


*  Dean  Stanley  thinks  Edessa  was  Ur,  and  gives  a  picturesque 
description  of  it  as  such.    Jewish  History,  vol.  i.  p.  7. 

Prof.  Sayce  and  George  Smith  also  regard  Mugheir  as  Ur, 
Hist,  of  Babylonia,  p.  65. 

*  Ewaldy  vol.  i.  p.  406;  Dillmann,  p.  224. 

*  Journ.  Boyal  Asiat.  Soc.  (1855),  vol.  xv.  pp.  260-276.  \ . 

*  Vigouroux,  vol.  i.  p.  160. 


%i>»r' 


THB    FIE8T    BEGINNINGS   OP   THE    HEBREW   NATION.      2t)7 


The 

the 

in  a 


network  of  sparkling  canals  and  rivulets  which  carried 
fertility  to  the  whole  landscape. 

Ur  was  one  of  the  most  ancient  cities  of  Chaldea, 
and  at  the  time  of  Abraham  must  have  been  one  of  the 
most  splendid.  The  Cushite  population  on  the  Lower 
Tigris  and  Euphrates  had  already  conquered  the  Acca- 
dians,  and  were  mingled  with  them;  to  form  in  the  course 
of  time  the  race  known  as  Babylonians.  Large  numbers 
of  bricks  stamped  with  characters  more  or  less  un- 
decipherable from  their  rude  simplicity,  fortunately  re- 
veal the  names  of  the  earliest  kings,  who  seem  to  have 
shared  power  in  these  southern  regions  with  several 
other  local  rulers ;  and  of  these,  two, — known  provisionally 
as  Urukh  and  his  son  Dungi,  who  would  seem  to  have 
lived  before  Abraham's  time,^ — appear  as  the  first  known 
"  Kings  of  Ur." 

The  power  of  Urukh  had  originally  extended  over  only 
the  district  round  Ur,  but  had  gradually  absorbed  most 
of  Babylonia  :  no  doubt  as  the  result  of  fierce  wars.  A 
loug  and  prosperous  life  had  followed,  marked  by  monu- 
ments more  numerous  than  those  of  any  other  king 
except  Nebuchadnezzar.  Thus,  at  Ur  itself,  he  had  built 
at  least  three  sacred  structures  of  great  size,  besides  a 
temple  tower  to  the  moon,  on  a  platform  of  brick  about 
twenty  feet  high,  from  which  it  rose  in  we  do  not  know 
how  many  storeys  ;  each,  like  those  of  Birs  Nimrud, 
smaller  than  the  one  below.  Abraham  would  daily  see, 
in  the  northern  part  of  the  city,  its  huge  height  rising 
from  the  basement  in  a  long  square  of  198  feet  by  133  in 
the  lower  storey,  and  120  feet  by  75  in  the  second,  which 
is  all  that  can  now  be  traced  :  for  time  has  utterly  ruined  it, 
in  spite  of  its  enormous  strength.     It  was  still  unfinished 

'  Rawlitisoii  (Prof.),  however,  assigns  his  date  to  the  lifetime 
ofTerah. 


268      THE    FIRST   BEOINNINGS    OF   THE    HEBREW   NATI.  S, 


when  IJpukh  died ;  for  clay  cylinders  found  in  the  upper 
storey  show  that  later  Babylonian  kings  contributed  to 
its  completion.  But  Urukh's  prisoners  of  war  and  slaves 
must  have  toiled  hard  to  raise  even  the  part  of  it  he 
constructed,  for  it  is  cased  with  ten  feet  thick  of  burnt 
bricks,  enclosing  a  dense  mass  of  others  only  sun-dried ; 
bitumen,  the  mortar  of  those  regions,  binding  the  vast 
aggregate  into  a  stony  firmness.^  A  sacred  obser- 
vatory tower  rose  over  the  highest  storey,  and  there,  if 
it  were  finished  before  his  day,  the  patriarch  would  see 
the  watchers  of  the  heavens — the  oldest  astronomers 
in  the  world — ever  busy  gathering  what  they  believed 
to  be  the  intimations  of  the  stars ;  for  the  guidance 
of  the  king  and  people,  in  their  public,  private,  and 
social  life.^  Numerous  priests  in  flowing,  embroidered 
robes,  chanted  their  liturgies,  offered  sacrifice,  drew 
omens,  marched  in  long  processions  on  their  religious 
festivals,  and  presided  in  the  temple  bounds  over 
courts  of  justice ;  while  in  the  city  were  found  all  the 
trades  and  professions  which  such  a  development  of 
worship  implies. 

But  Ur  was  not  the  only  city  which  King  Urukh  em- 
bellished. The  ruins  of  a  temple  tower  built  by  him  at 
Warka,  with  its  corners  exactly  facing  the  four  cardinal 
points,  still  rise  a  hundred  feet  above  the  plain  ;  and  so 
huge  was  the  whole  structure  that  more  than  30,000,000 
bricks  must  have  been  used  in  its  construction.*  Others 
of  the  same  character;  a  succession  of  receding  towers 

*  Smith  and  Sayce's  Babylonia,  p.  69. 

*  Observations  of  eclipses  commenced  at  Babylon  B.c.  2228, — 
1,983  years  before  the  capture  of  the  city  by  Alexander  the  Great. 
Lieut.  Conder,  E.E.,  Bible  Handbook,  p.  18. 

*  Rawlinson's  Ancient  Monarchiea,  vol.  i.  p.  199.  Vigouroiw., 
vol.  i.  p.  352. 


i 


THE   FIRST    BEGINNINGS    OF   THE    HEBREW   NATION.     299 


III! 


standing  one  on  another,  with  an  observatory  above  all, 
had  been  built  by  him  in  other  cities  also,  and  doubtless 
stood  in  all  their  glory  in  the  time  of  Abrabam.  In  all, 
the  position  was  exactly  that  of  the  Tower  at  Woika. 
The  style  is  primitive  and  simple,  the  bricks  of  many 
sizes  and  badly  fitted  together,  with  mud  as  cement  for 
the  sun-dried,  and  bitumen  for  that  of  the  burnt ; 
the  walls  sloped  inwards  to  make  them  stronger,  with 
arched  drains  underneath  them  to  secure  dryness.  In 
each  city  the  tower  was  dedicated  to  the  local  god; 
whether  the  sun  or  the  moon,  or  one  of  the  planets ;  or 
to  Sarili,  the  king  of  the  gods.  Two  dedication  tablets  of 
that  of  Ur,  fortunately,  still  remain.  "Urukh,  king  of 
Ur,  built  the  temple  of  the  god  Sin  (the  moon)  ;"  and 
"  Urukh,  king  of  Ur,  raised  a  temple  to  the  god  Sin,  his 
lord,  and  also  built  the  fortified  wall  of  Ur/'  The  moon 
was,  indeed,  the  great  god  of  the  city;  its  splendour  in 
the  dark  eastern  skies,  and  its  importance  in  astronomical 
studies,  giving  it  a  rank  even  above  that  of  the  sun  in 
this  district  as  in  some  others.^  Nor  were  his  temples 
the  only  architectural  glories  of  Urukh's  reign.  A  great 
palace  at  Ur,  known  as  that  of  the  "  supreme  prince," 
further  confirmed  his  claims  as  one  of  the  great  builders 
of  the  ancient  world.  The  very  extent  of  the  city 
attests  its  splendour  and  that  of  its  ruler,  for  even  its 
remaining  ruins  measure  four-fifths  of  a  mile  across,  while 
its  wall,  still  traceable,  is  over  four  miles  in  circumference. 
If  the  earliest  dwellings  in  Chaldea  were  simple  huts 
of  branches ;  in  the  days  of  Abraham'  these  had  been 

*  It  was  from  its  worship  of  the  moon  that  Ur  got  the  name 
of  Karnarinaiii  larer  times,  from  Arab.  Kamar,  "the  moon."  The 
sun  was  regarded  as  only  a  goddess,  or  as  the  son  of  the  moon  ; 
which,  on  the  other  hand,  was  a  god. 

2  It  is  curious  to  find  that  the  name  Abram  was  one  in  use 


1 


.: 


I 


t 


il 


mi 


300     IHB   FIRST    BEGINNINQS    OF   THE    HEBREW   NATION. 


■: 


(i 


ii 


superseded  by  solid  houses  of  brick;  the  alluvial  soil 
yielding  exhaustless  supplies  of  clay  for  every  kind  of 
structure.  The  houses,  with  fanciful  designs  painted 
outside,  like  the  temple  towers,  stood  on  platforms.  To 
shut  out  the  heat,  the  walls  of  the  better  class  were  verj 
thick.  The  windows  were  high  up  and  small-;  the  rooms 
long,  narrow,  and  gloomy,  and  all  opened  one  into  the 
other;  while  a  central  arch  formed  the  entry  from 
without.  Trees  planted  all  round  served  to  protect  the 
inmates  from  the  overpowering  rays  of  the  sun.* 
Whether  Terah  and  Abraham  lived  in  houses,  however, 
or  pitched  their  tents,  as  is  still  done  by  Arabs,  outside 
the  city  gate,  is  a  matter  of.  question.  Mugheir  appears 
to  have  been  abandoned  about  B.C.  500 ;  but  it  and  Erech 
continued  to  be  what  they  had  been  from  the  earliest 
times,  great  sacred  burial  cities,  like  Abydos  in  ancient 
Egypt.  Thp  dead  were  interred  with  great  care  and  de- 
votion in  vast  sepulchral  mounds,  which  were  thoroughly 
drained ;  the  body  being  commonly  laid  on  its  left  side, 
with  a  copper  bowl  with  some  dates  or  other  food  in  its 
hand ;  the  right  one  being  laid  over  the  bowl  as  if  the  de- 
parted were  eating.  The  seal,  in  the  shape  of  a  cylinder, 
worn  in  life  on  the  wrist,  was  left  there,  and  cuf  i  for 
drinking,  generally  of  bronze,  were  placed  near.* 

The  arts  of  life  surrounded  the  patriarch  in  this  region 
to  an  extent  we  could  hardly  have  anticipated.^     Hand- 

among  the  Assyrians.  It  occurs  as  that  of  an  oflficer  of  the  court 
of  Esarhaddon,  B.C.  681-668. 

*  Described  from  the  Assyrian  slabs. 

2  H.  G.  Tomkins'  Stu'des  on  the  Life  of  Abraham.  (Bagster: 
London,  1879.) 

^  The  excavations  conducted  at  NifTer  (Nipur),  Warka,  Mu- 
gheir, and  elsewhere  have  revealed  a  new  form  of  speech  resera- 
bling  the  Turanian  family  of  languages,  bub  with  a  vocabulary 
which  is '*  decidedly  0 us hite  or  Ethiopian;"  approaching  in  fact 


(• 


THE    FIltST    BEGINNINGS   OP   THE    HEBREW   NATION.      301 


soil 
1(1  of 
inted 

To 

ver^ 

ooma 

the 
from 
t  the 

^r.  1 


made  pottery  of  many  kinds  abounded;  if,  indeed,  the 
potter's  wheel  were  not  ah-eady  plied  so  dexterously  ad  it 
is  to-day,  to  create  the  many  shapes  of  jars,  and  vessels, 
and  lamps  which  are  yet  found  in  the  old  Chaldean 
graves.  Clay  tablets  stamped  with  figures  and  groups  of 
men  and  animals,  displayed  the  simple  skill  of  the  artist, 
and  the  stone  engraver  carved  designs  of  human  or 
divine  forms  on  cylinders  of  serpentine,  jasper,  and  other 
stones ;  to  be  used  for  impressing  the  device  on  soft  clay 
tablets  by  rolling  it  over  them.  A  fine  cylindrical  seal 
of  the  age  of  King  Urukh,  recovered  by  Ker  Porter, 
but  subsequently  lost,  has  been  copied  in  variougi 
books.^  A  royal  personage  sits  in  an  armchair,  the  hind 
legs  of  which  are  carved  into  the  form  of  deer's  legs. 
He  is  dressed  in  a  long  robe  with  sleeves,  reaching  to  his 
ancles,  and  a  hat  like  many  of  the  felt  ones  of  to-day, 
while  three  figures  before  him,  apparently  female,  have 
long,  flounced,  embroidered,  and  striped  dresses,  marking 
a  great  advancement  in  textile  manufactures.  Nor  is 
this  so  strange,  when  we  remember  that,  already  in 
Joshua's  day,  a  Babylonish  garment  kindled  the  greed  of 
Achan.2  Fragments  of  linen  are  said  to  have  occurred 
in  the  tombs,  and  the  head,  in  some  of  them,  has  been 
found  resting  on  the  remains  of  a  ''  tasselled  cushion  of 
tapestry."  Nor  were  other  arts  unknown.  Sun  dials 
marked  the  hours  of  the  day,  which  had  already  been 
divided  as  we  now  have  them ;  and  though  stone  tools 
and  weapons  were  still  in  use,  the  smith  and  the  jeweller 

the  Mahra  of  Southern  Arabia,  and  the  Galla  of  Abyssinia.  Thus 
modeni  research  more  and  more  confirms  the  statements  of  tho 
Bible.     See  Rawlinson's  Ancient  Monarchies,  vol.  i.  p.  65. 

*  For  example,  in   Eawlinson's   Ancient  Monarchies,  vol.  i.  p, 
118. 

*  Josh.  vii.  21.  • 


302     THE   FIRST   BEGINNINQS   OF  THE   HEBREW   NATION, 

furnished  the  field,  the  camp,  the  house,  and  the  person 
with  a  long  list  of  implements,  weapons,  and  ornamenta 
in  various  metals. 

The  plain  of  Mugheir,  though  now  desolate  and  marshy, 
was  once  wondrously  fertile.  Created  by  the  alluvial 
deposits  of  the  Euphrates,  it  rivalled  the  productive- 
ness of  Egypt,  watered  by  the  Nile ;  insomuch  that  Sir 
Henry  Rawlinson  has  thought  it  the  site  of  the  garden  of 
Eden.  The  ruins  of  Ur  lie  more  than  two  degrees  north 
of  the  Persian  Gulf,  but  in  Abraham's  time  the  sea  ex- 
tended much  farther  in  that  direction  than  at  present; 
the  vast  deposits  of  the  Tigris  and  Euphrates  adding  new 
land  to  their  delta,  according  to  those  best  fitted  to  judge, 
at  so  rapid  a  rate,  that  a  tract  of  country  not  less  than  a 
hundred  and  thirty  miles  from  north  to  south,  and  from 
sixty  to  seventy  broad,  has  been  gained  from  the  sea, 
for  the  most  part  since  the  patriarch's  day;^  Ur,  and  even 
Babylon,  being  then  ports  from  which  ships  traded  far 
and  near. 

.  From  the  month  of  May  to  November  it  seldom  rains 
in  Chaldea,  and  the  soil  is  scorched  by  the  burning  sun. 
The  Tigris  reaches  its  highest  floods  about  the  time  when 
the  rains  cease,  in  May ;  beginning  to  rise  in  March  and 
sinking  rapidly  in  the  end  of  May,  till  it  reaches  its 
lowest  in  June.  The  rise  of  the  Euphrates,  drawn  from 
the  northern  slopes  of  the  mountains  of  Armenia,  begins 
a  fortnight  later,  but  lasts  longer;  overflowing  the 
banks  far  and  near,  and  sometimes  causing  great  disas- 
ters. In  the  time  of  Abraham,  however,  the  waters  were 
utilized,  and  danger  prevented,  by  the  system  of  canals, 
river  dykes,    and   sluices,   in    use;    which   enabled  the 

*  Rawlinson,  Ancient  Monarchies,  vol.  i.  p.  6.  The  growth  of  the 
land  was  formerly,  according  to  some,  a  mile  in  30  years;  now  it 
is  a  mile  in  about  66.    Vigouroux,  vol.  i.  p.  334.   See  before,  p.  115. 


THE    FIRST    BEGINNINGS    OP   THE    HEBREW   NATION.     303 


inbabitauts  to  reofiilate  the  inundation  as  tliey  pleased. 
Channels  of  greater  or  less  size,  skilfully  formed,  led  the 
quickening  moisture  to  the  roots  of  ev(;ry  tree  or  plant. 
Freely  expended  when  the  leaves  and  flowers  were  yet 
to  form,  they  were  less  so  when  the  fruit  had  set,  while 
very  little  was  given  where  it  had  reached  its  full  size, 
and  only  wanted  ripening.^ 

It  is  hard  to  realize,  from  the  marshy  flats  of  the  south, 
or  the  dry  dusty  stretches  of  the  north  of  Clialdea,  what 
the  country  must  have  been  when  the  innumerable  canals, 
once  the  boastful  glory  of  ancient  monarchs,  but  now 
dry  and  well  nigh  effaced,  distributed  far  and  near  the 
waters  of  the  great  river.  Mr.  Loftus,  however,  gives  us 
a  glimpse  of  its  appearance  when  the  waters  have  begun 
to  fill  what  irrigating  channels  still  remain ;  and  thus  helps 
to  revivify  the  distant  past.  "  Nothing,"  says  he,  "  could 
exceed  the  beauty  and  luxury  of  the  river  side  and  its  now 
verdant  borders.  Bee-eaters,  kingfishers,  herons,  pigeons, 
hawks,  and  other  birds,  in  all  their  bright  and  varied 
plumage,  were  flying  about,  uttering  their  several  cries 
and  scarcely  dei,r;ning  to  notice  the  presence  of  human 
beings."  Elsewhere  he  speaks  of  a  thick  forest  of  luxu- 
riant date  trees  fringing  the  bank  on  each  side  of  the 
river,  which  supplies  the  necessary  moisture  for  their 
nourishment,  and  for  the  cultivation  of  cereals,  which 
flourish  even  under  the  shade  of  the  palms.  The  ebb  and 
flow  of  the  tide  is  perceptible  twenty  miles  above  Korna; 
quite  eighty  miles  from  the  Persian  Gulf.^ 

Chaldea  produced  neither  the  fig,  the  olive,  nor  the 
vine,  but  it  had  a  treasure  in  the  palm  which  made  up  for 
their  absence.  The  most  beautiful  of  trees,  it  is  also  the 
most  varied  in  usefulness.     Its  fruit,  hanging  in  clusters 

*  Allen,  Abraham,  his  Life,  Times,  etc.,  p.  3. 

*  Chaldea  and  Susiana,  p.  275. 


iti<  X   r 

■ml  "lOl     '• 


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I 


I    B    I' 


304     TBB    FIRST   BKOINNINQS  OF    THB    HEBREW    NATION. 


of  amber  or  gold,  is  at  once  pleasant  to  the  eye,  delicious, 
and  nourishing', — the  food  of  the  poor  and  the  luxury  of 
the  rich.  The  very  kernels,  when  broken  up,  feed  the 
goats.  An  incision  in  th  j  stem  yields  a  drink  which  takns 
the  place  of  wine.  The  crown  which  grows  from  the 
top,  and  the  inner  fibres  and  pith  are  boiled  for  food. 
Mats  and  baskets  are  made  from  the  leaves,  while  the 
stem  furnishes  pillars,  roofing,  and  furniture.  In  Abra- 
ham's day  it  grew  almost  in  forests,  in  Chaldea.^  The 
whole  district  indeed  was  amazingly  fertile  and  highly 
cultivated.  Shady  with  palms,  tamarisks,  and  acacias,  it 
was  also  rich  in  pomegranates,  and  golden  with  fields  of 
the  finest  wheat.  Millet  and  sesame  grew  to  a  fabulous 
height,  and  all  kinds  of  corn  plants  produced  two  or 
even  three  hundred  fold.^  Such  was  the  enchanted  land 
which  Abraham,  at  the  summons  of  God,  was  to  exchange 
for  the  land  of  Canaan. 

The  life  of  Abraham  in  Chaldea  seems  to  have  been 
nearly,  if  not  actually,  contemporary  with  a  great  reli- 
gious revolution  which  Sargon  I.,  the  founder  of  a  new 
dynasty,  effected  throughout  all  Babylonia.  Till  then 
the  mingled  Sumirs  and  Accadians  had  followed  a  simple 
and  primitive  nature  worship,  different  in  each  town  or 
district ;  and  had  not  as  yet  grouped  their  local  divinities 
into  any  graduated  celestial  hierarchy.  Their  religion, 
indeed,  consisted  chiefly  in  meagre  rites ;  their  ideas  of 
the  gods  were  vague  and  indefinite.  But,  if  M.  Lenor- 
mant  be  right  in  his  date,^  Sargon,  about  2,000  years 
before  Christ,  gave  a  great  impulse  to  idolatry  by  estab- 
lishing over  all  Mesopotamia  a  complete  and  developed 
system  j   introduced  it  may  be  by  Nimrod  as  the  firat 

*  Rawlinson's  Ancient  MonarcMes,  vol.  i.  pp.  43,  44. 

*  Herod.,  i.  193 ;  Straho,  xvi.  i.  14 ;  Plin.  Hist.  Nat.,  xviii.  17. 

*  Leauriiiaub,  La  Magie,  p.  114, 


THE    FIRST   DEQINNINQS   OP  THE    REDREW   NATION.      305 

Ciisliita  monarch,  and  favoured  by  king"  Urukh,  but  only 
graduiilly  piM'fuctod  after  many  fjenenitions,  in  priestly 
schools.  Two  thousand  years  before  the  Christian  era, 
Bays  Geortj^o  Smith,  the  mythology  was  already  completed, 
and  its  deities  definitely  connected  into  a  system  which 
remained  with  little  change  down  to  the  close  of  the 
kingdom.^ 

As  in  India  the  old  Vedic  religion  was  supplanted  by 
the  teachings  of  the  Brahminical  schools,  and  countless 
gods  took  the  place  of  the  earlier  simple  religion;  so,  on 
the  banks  of  the  Euphrates,  new  divinities,  introduced 
by  the  religious  theorists  and  philosophers  of  that  distant 
age,  displaced  for  ever  the  faith  of  earlier  times.  Waa 
this  the  immediate  cause  of  Abraham  being  divinely 
"called"  to  leave  a  country  now  wholly  given  to  idols, 
and  destined  to  sink  thenceforward  into  ever  deeper 
religious  error?  It  was  from  his  day  that  we  must  date 
the  rise  of  Babylon  to  be,  what  it  remained  for  many 
centuries,  the  spiritual  centre  of  Western  Asia,^  as 
Rome  was  of  medieval  Christendom.  The  old  Accadian 
religious  elements  were  henceforth  to  blend  with  the 
Semitic,  introduced  by  the  Cushite  conquest,  and  these, 
gradually  gaining  predominance,  were  to  form  an 
elaborate   and  powerful  system  of  idolatry :  nor  could 


^  Chaldean  Genesis,  p.  52.  • 

2  See  Tielo,  Die  Assyriologie,  p.  23.  Professor  Sayce,  Trans. 
8oc.  of  Bib.  Arch.,  vol.  iii.  pp.  145  ff.  M.  Lenormanb  is  of 
opinion  that  "it  is  plain  that  the  full  development  of  astro- 
theology  cannot  have  been  much  earlier  than  B.C.  2000,"  but  ho 
places  the  reign  of  Sargon  in  the  16th  century  B.C.  The  reli- 
gious revolution  in  Babylonia  would  thus  still  be  contemporary 
with  Abraham,  though  nob  brought  about  by  Sargon.  In 
another  paper  of  Professor  Sayce  {Trans.  Soe.  Bib.  Arch  ,  vol.  iv., 
p.  26),  I  find  ho  assigns  Sargon  to  a  dato  from  B.C.  2000  to 
B.C.  1700. 

vor    I.  X 


806     THE    FlRbT    BiSQlNNINQS   OF    THK    HEBREW    NATION. 


Abraham  and  his  descendants  have  founded  a  pure 
religion  in  such  an  atmosphere. 

It  is  intensely  interesting  to  look  back  to  these  glimpses 
of  the  rise  of  great  religious  systems  in  extreme  antiquity. 
Strange  to  say,  some  of  the  very  hymns  which  marked 
the  growing  development  of  Chaldean  idolatry  remain  to 
our  day ;  hymns  which  Abraham  may  often  have  heard 
rising  in  measured  chant  and  antiphony  from  priestly 
choirs  at  Ur.  One  addressed  to  the  mooa,  extols  it  as 
the  "Lord,  the  prince  of  gods  of  heaven  and  earth;"  the 
"  Father-god,  enlightening  the  earth;"  the  "good  goi;" 
"  the  god  of  the  month ;"  "  the  Lord  of  the  alabaster 
house;"  "  the  Lord  of  crowns  ;"  *'tlie  Lord,  duly  return- 
ing ;"  '*  the  awarder  of  kingdoms;"  "  who  raises  himself 
by  humbling  the  proud;"  "  the  crescent,  mighty-horned;" 
'*  the  doom-dealer,  shining  with  rounded  orb ;"  '*  the 
self-produced,  issuing  from  his  home,  and  pouring  forth 
ever  plenteous  brightness  ;"  "  the  high  exalted,  all  pro- 
ducing ;"  "  the  Father,  who  in  his  circuit  renews  life  in 
all  lands ;"  "  the  Lord,  whose  godhead  spreads  awe  of 
him,  far  and  wide  as  sea  and  sky ;"  "  the  guardian  of 
shrines  in  the  land  of  Accad ;"  "  the  sire  of  gods  and 
men,  the  guide  of  childhood ;"  *'  the  p-imeval  seer,  the 
sole  rewarder,  fixing  the  doom  of  distant  days;"  "the 
unshaken  chief,  whose  gracious  heart  is  ever  forgetful  of 
its  wrongs ;"  "  whose  blessings,  ever  flowing,  never 
cease;"  "the  leader  of  the  gods,  who,  from  depth  to 
height,  bright  piercing,  opens  the  gate  of  heaven." 

It  continues  :— 


Father  mine,  of  life  the  giver,  cherishing,  beholding  all  I 
Lord,  whose  power  benign  extends  over  all  in  heaven  and  earth  I 
Thou  drawest  forih  from  heaven  the  seasons  and  the  rains ; 
Thou  watchest  life  and  yieldest  showers  I  v 

Who  in  heaven  is  high  exalted  ?    Thou,  sublime  is  thy  reign ! 


pure 


THE   FIRST    BE0INNIN09   OF  TOR    TfEnREW   NATION.     307 

Who,  on  cfirth  P     Thou,  sublimo  is  thy  reign  I 

Thou  rcvuulust  thy  will  in  heavon,  and  celotitial  spirits  praiso 

thoo, 
Thou  rovcalosfc  thy  will  bolow,  and  subduost  tho  Hpirita  of  earth, 
Thy  will  whinca  in  hoavon  liko  tho  radiant  light; 
On  eartii  thy  deeds  doclaro  it  to  mo. 

Thou,  thy  will,  who  knowoth  P    With  what  can  man  compare  it  P 
Lord!    in  heaven  and  earth,  thou  Lord  of  gods,  none  equals} 

thee.' 


Idolatry  wag,  indeed,  striking  its  roots  doop  and  wide. 
Ea,  the  special  benefactor  of  men,  was  also  tho  patron  of 
irrigation ;  so  vitally  needed  in  those  regions.  Sin,  tho 
moon,  of  brickmakmg  and  budding ;  San  or  Shamas,  tho 
sun  god,  of  war;  Nergal,  of  hunting;  and  other  deities 
presided  over  life  in  other  aspects.  The  planets  and  tho 
constellations  wore  consecrated  to  gods,  or  rather,  re- 
garded as  Divine  ;  primitive  astronomy  measured  days 
and  months,  and  years  and  cycles,  and  recorded  all  the 
movemeuts  and  appearances  of  the  heavens,  to  fix  the 
holy  seasons  and  to  read  the  story  of  tho  gods;  and 
astrology  drew  auguries  of  good  and  evil  from  the 
phenomena  thus  observed,  to  guide  men  in  every  detail 
of  their  public,  private,  and  social  life.  Magic  and  divi- 
nation, moreover,  had  their  special  seat  on  the  Euphrates ; 
and  magician  priests  claimed  to  aver<;,  by  countless  spells 
and  incantations,  the  malignity  of  innumerable  genii 
and  evii  spirits  which  filled  the  air,  the  earth,  and  the 
abyss  below  it. 

Abraham  grew  up  amidst  all  this  idolatry  and  supersti- 
tion. But,  to  use  a  figure  from  the  Institutes  of  Menu, 
his  soul  remained  pure  as  a  white  lily  in  muddy  waters 
amidst  the  seductive  influences  which  won  over  even 
Terah,  his  father.     In  a  household  which  "  served  other 

*  Lenormant,  Les  Prem,  Civilisations,  vol.  ii.  p.  158. 


308      THE    FIRST   BEGINNINGS   OP  THE    HEBREW  NATION. 


gods '*^  than  Jehovah,  he  remained,  from  the  first,  true 
to  the  bettor  faith,  perhaps  brought  by  his  race,  long 
before,  from  their  native  mountains  in  the  north.  The 
strength  of  character,  the  high  religious  feeling  and  the 
firm  courage  which  this  implied,  attest  a  moral  greatness 
of  nature.  For,  wherever  ht  turned,  idolatry  invited  him. 
In  the  rising  sun  he  saw  a  god  worshipped  by  the  people 
of  Larsa  and  Sippara  as  their  defender,  and,  as  in  Egypt, 
bearing  different  names  at  morning,  noon,  and  evening, 
Terah  would  tell  him  that  it  rose  as  Oud,  the  sun  of  life, 
the  foe  of  demons  and  sorcerers,  and  sank  as  Nindar, 
into  the  lower  world,  to  light  up  the  dark  realms  of 
death  and  of  the  dead.  The  Maskim,  mighty  demons 
who  lived  in  the  hollow  of  the  earth,  were  its  giant 
guardians,^  receiving  it  as  it  entered.  Mercury,  the  star 
of  the  god  Nebo,  was  "  prince  of  the  men  of  Harran," 
the  district  where  Terah  was  to  live  in  his  later  years, 
and  where  he  died.  The  planet  Jupiter  was  the  star  of 
Merodach,  the  patron  god  of  Babylon.^  The  five  planets 
were  the  interpreters  of  the  will  of  God,  and  as  such 
were  so  closely  watched,  that  the  library  of  King  Sargon 
had  a  special  treatise  on  all  the  phases  of  Mars.  The 
very  sign  for  a  divinity  in  Accadian  was  a  star.  Twelve 
chiefs  of  the  gods  presided  in  turn  over  each  month  and 
each  sign  of  the  Zodiac,  assisted  by  thirty  stars  as 
**  counsellor  gods ;"  fifteen  above  and  fifteen  below  the 
earth.* 

Despite  all  this  idolatry  there  still,  however,  lingered 
some  traditions  of  earlier  and  better  days.  Legends 
passed  from  lip  to  lip — of  the  Creation ;  of  the  revolt  of 
the  evil  spirits ;  of  the  innocence,  temptation,  and  fall  of 

*  Josh.  xxiv.  2.  ^  Lenormant,  Magie,  p.  26. 

•  Pi'of.  Sayce.     Trans.  Soc.  Bib.  Arch.,  vol.  ill.  p.  175. 

♦  Ibid.f  vol.  iii.  p.  148. 


THE   FIRST    BEGINNINGS   OP   THE    HEBREW    NATION.      309 

man;  of  the  Deluge,  and  the  deliverance  of  Noah  and 
his  family ;  of  the  Tower  of  Babel  and  the  Confusion  of 
Tongues.  They  were  cherished,  however,  not  by  the  old 
Accadians,  but  rather  in  the  Cushite  or  Semitic  stock  ; 
these  two  names  as  yet  implying  the  same  people.  The 
prevailing  idolatry  was  a  development  of  the  old  religion 
of  the  Accadians,  but  for  this  development  and  for  the 
traditions  we  are  indebted  to  their  conquerors. 

Sacred  usages,  originally  of  Divine  origin,  but  sadly 
corrupted  in  Abraham's  day,  also  survived.  The  summit 
of  all  the  mighty  tower  temples  with  which  the  country 
abounded,  had  their  altars,  on  which  sacrifices  were 
ofi*ered  to  the  gods,  in  the  belief  that  they  would  come 
down  only  to  such  lofty  sanctuaries ;  an  idea  natural  to  a 
people  still  clinging  to  their  tradition  that  the  seat  of  the 
immortals  was  on  "  the  Mountain  of  the  East,''  "  or  the 
Mountain  of  the  World,''  from  whose  foot  their  ancestors 
had  come.  The  ram  and  the  bull  were  day  by  day  slain 
and  burnt  to  propitiate  the  gods.  Nor  was  this  the  worst, 
for  the  Semitic  race  had  learned  from  the  Accadians,^  the 
awful  practice  of  human  sacrifice, — households,  in  time  of 
special  trouble,  even  presenting  their  eldest  son  as  a 
burnt  offering  for  the  sins  of  the  family.  But  amidst  all 
this  fearful  degeneracy  of  religious  ideas,  the  patriarch 
would  hear  the  seventh  day  spoken  of  as  "  the  day  of  rest 
for  the  heart,"  on  which  even  the  king  dared  not  ride 
out  in  his  chariot,  or  eat  forbidden  meats,  or  violate  a 
long  list  of  minute  restrictions.* 

With  all  this  excessive  religiousness  in  the  outward 
form,  there  was,  however,  as  little  conception  of  the 
essence  of  true  religion  as  in  later  heathen  nations  ;  for 
the  old  Accadiau  writings  seem  to  know  no  other  sin 

*  Sayce,  Trans  Soc.  Bib.  Arch.,  vol.  iv.  p.  26. 

'  Fox  Talbot,  Trans.  Soc.  Bib.  Arch.,  vol.  v.  p.  427. 


II 


I  1 


'    ^'i'l 


P    'l.f 


-% 


310     THE   FIRST  BEGINNINGS   OP   THE    HEBREW  NATION. 

than  sncli  neglect  of  the  approved  propitiatory  rites; 
as  seeking  the  favour  of  evil  spirits  by  unholy  arts,  in- 
stead of  winning  over  the  good  spirits  by  the  authorised 
£0^^193  duly  performed  by  priestly  magicians.^  The 
immortality  of  the  soul  was,  however,  universally  b'^ld, 
for  the  tablets  speak  of  its  flying  up  like  a  bird  to 
heaven,  and  we  still  have  prayers  for  the  dying,  that 
the  "  Sun,  greatest  of  the  gods,  may  receive  the  saved 
soul  into  his  holy. hands/' 2  There  is,  moreover,  among 
the  inscriptions,  a  fine  one,  not  yet  fully  translated, 
describing  the  soul  in  heaven,  "the  land  of  the  Silver 
Light,''  clothed  in  white  shining  garments,  seated  in 
the  compi'ny  of  the  blessed  and  fed  by  the  gods  them- 
selves, with  celestial  food.  So  correctly  had  this  great 
truth  of  the  first  religion  been  preserved  to  those  times. 
The  belief  in  demoniacal  possession  was  universal,  and 
indeed  all  diseases  and  personal  calamities  were  attri- 
buted to  It.  Every  one  wore  charms  and  talismans  to 
guard  him  against  evil  influsnces  ever  hovering  round; 
and,  as  in  our  own  day,  hoiiy  water  was  in  vogue  as  a 
further  means  of  driving  them  away.^  The  resurrec- 
tion of  the  dead  was  also  an  article  of  the  public  creed, 
for  Marduk  or  Merodach  is  addressed  as  "  He  who  raises 
the  dead  to  life."  *  After  death  the  sun  was  "  the  Judge 
of  Men."  Like  the  Egyptians,  t^io  people  among  whom 
Abraham  sojourned  believed  that  the  actions  of  men 
would  hereafter  be  weighed  in  a  balance — the  good 
deeds  against  the  bad — and  sentence  pronounced  accord- 
ingly.^ Still  more,  there  lingered  beneath  the  surface  of 
the  gross  polytheism  in  vogue,  the  remembrance,  how- 

*  Lenormant,  La  Magie,  p.  13P. 

•  Trans.  Soc.  Bib.  Arch,^  vol.  ii.  p.  30. 

*  Ibid.,  vol.  iv.  p.  bO.  ■  Ibid.,  Yol.ii.-p,  SO, 

•  Ibid.,  vol.  ii.  p.  32. 


ad. 


THE   FIRST   BEGINNINGS  OP   THB    HEBREW   NATION.      311 

ever  faint,  of  the  supren>e  pristinr  truth  of  the  Unity  of 
God,  though  sadly  obscured  to  the  multitude  by  the 
pantheism  and  idolatry  which  had  gradually  confounded 
the  Creator  with  His  creation,  and  degraded  the  Godhead 
into  multitudinous  deities  displaying  their  presence  in  the 
phenomena  of  nature.^ 

To  have  kept  true  to  the  lofty  faith  with  which  he  is 
identified,  amidst  such  communities,  and  in  spite  of  the 
apostasy  of  his  father's  house ;  to  have  turned  aside 
from  all  that  was  degraded,  superstitious,  or  false  in  the 
popular  beliefs  around  him,  while  singling  out  and 
cherishing  all  that  was  divine  and  pure,  implies  in 
Abraham  a  grandeur  of  soul,  and  an  instinctive  percep- 
tion of  the  true  and  eternal,  which  place  him  in  the 
foreground  of  human  greatness.  Yet  it  cannot  fully 
explain  so  unique  a  phenomenon  to  ascribe  to  him  any 
powers  or  qualities  however  lofty ;  there  must  have  been, 
besides,  as  Scripture  affirms — a  direct  revelation  and 
heavenly  guidance.  Even  a  writer  so  calm  and  unpre- 
judiced as  Max  Muller  can  account  for  it  in  no  other 
way.* 

*  Lenormant,  Histoire  Ancienne,  vol.  i.  p.  452. 

•  See  p.  23. 


CHAPTER  XIX, 


THE    MIGRATION    OP    ABRAHAM, 


I  I  ' 

III 


: 


THE  fusion  of  the  simple  Accadian  nature- worship 
with  the  Cushite  or  Semitic  astro-theology  was  an 
event  of  the  first  importance,  not  only  for  the  age  in  which 
it  took  place,  but  for  the  whole  future  history  of  the 
world.  Henceforward,  idolatry  rapidly  developed  itself, 
and  boasted  a  long  hierarchy  of  gods,  an  established  caste 
of  priests,  a  minutely  prescribed  ritual,  and  the  authority 
of  recognised  position.  Everything  points,  as  has  been 
said,  to  its  having  culminated  about  the  time  of  Abra- 
ham's sojourn  in  Mesopotamia,  and  the  constant  tendency 
of  his  descendants  in  after  ages  to  revert  to  it,  shows  the 
influence  it  already  had  on  his  people,  before  he  migrated 
to  Canaan.^ 

The  spirit  of  idolatry,  moreover,  especially  in  its  first 
vigour,  has  always  been  persecuting,  and  it  is  easy  to 
believe  that  the  legends  of  Abraham  having  suffered  for 
his  resolute  worship  of  the  One  God,  may  embody  the 
truth.  ^ 

Jewish  tradition,  indeed,  represents  the  patriarch  as 

*  Mr.  Sfc,  Chad  Boscawen  agrees  witb  Prof.  Sayce,  that  Sargon'a 
reign  was  about  B.C.  2000.  Trans.  8oc.  Bib.  Arch.,  vol.  vi.  p.  SSG. 
It  is  a  curious  fact  that,  notwithstanding  their  forefathers  leaving 
the  Euphrates  so  many  ages  before,  the  Jews  to  the  last  retained 
their  fondne^^s  for  Asiatic  idolatry. 

312 


I    1 


THE    MTQKATION    OF   ABRAHAM. 


313 


faithful  to  Jehovah  even  from  cliildhood.  Oae  beautiful 
story  describes  him,  fancifully  enough,  as  having  lived  in 
early  boyhood  in  a  cave,  and  as  coming  out  only  after  he 
was  a  growing  lad.  "  When  he  first  left  it,"  says  the 
legend,  "  Looking  up  at  the  heavens  over  him,  and  round 
upon  the  earth,  he  began  to  thini*:,  '  Who  could  have 
created  all  this  ?  '  Presently,  the  sun  rose  in  splendour, 
and  he  thought  this  must  be  the  Maker  of  the  universe, 
and  threw  himself  down  before  it  and  worshipped  the 
whole  day.  But  when  evening  came  the  sun  sank,  and 
Abraham  now  thought^  this  could  not  be  the  Creator  of 
all.  Then  the  moon  rose  in  the  east,  and  the  countless 
army  of  the  stars  came  forth.  '  Surely  the  moon  is  the 
Lord  of  all,  and  the  stars  are  the  host  of  his  servants,' 
cried  Abraham,  and  bowed  himself  before  the  moon  and 
worshipped  it.  But  the  moon  went  down,  the  light  of 
the  stars  faded,  and  the  sun  appeared  again  on  the  edge 
of  the  sky.  Then  he  said,  'Truly  all  these  heavenly 
bodies  together  could  not  have  created  the  universe; 
they  listen  to  the  voice  of  an  Unseen  Ruler,  to  whom  all 
owes  its  being ;  Him  alone  will  I  henceforward  worship ; 
before  Him  only  will  I  henceforth  bow.' "  ^ 

The  legend  goes  on  to  tell  us  that  in  those  days  idolatry 
spread  widely.  Nimrod  and  his  people,  and  Terah  and 
his  whole  house,  worshipped  images  of  wood  and  stone. 
Terah,  indeed,  had  not  only  twelve  idols,  according  to 
the  twelve  months,  to  whom  in  succession  he  offered 
sacrifices,  but  also  made  idols  and  sold  them.  But 
Abraham,  now  fifty  years  old,  returning  to  his  father's 
house,  was  sore  distressed  at  this  false  worship,  and  set 
himself  to  show  its  folly  and  worthlessness,  that  he  might 
teach  his  father  a  better  way. 

When,  now,  one  day,  Terah  had  been  from  home,  and 
'  Beer's  Lebeu  Abraham,  p.  3. 


iMifci 


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■  \^}w 

1  j3b 

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r- 

jji^^k 

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\ 


314 


THE    MIGRATION   OP  ABRAHAM. 


had  trusted  Abraham  to  sell  the  idols,  the  patriarch 
resolved  to  delay  no  longer  carrying  out  his  purpose. 
He  tlierefore  asked  each  buyer  his  age,  and  when  told, 
asked  him  again,  if  at  his  time  of  life  he  were  not  ashamed 
to  pray  to  the  work  of  men's  hands.  One  buyer  having 
said  that  he  was  seventy,  Abraham  asked  him,  If  he 
really  meant  to  worship  the  idol  ?  "  Of  course,*'  an- 
swered the  buyer,  "  he  is  my  god/'  "  Indeed,"  replied 
Abraham,  "  then  you  are  older  than  your  god ;  you  are 
seventy,  and  this  god  was  made  yesterday."  One  day 
a  woman  came  with  a  dish  full  of  fine  meal,  and 
asked  that  it  be  set  before  the  gods.  As  soon  as  she 
had  gone,  Abraham  took  a  stick  and  broke  in  pieces  all 
the  gods  except  the  largest,  in  whose  hands  he  put  the 
stick.  But  when  his  father  came  back  and  saw  his  idols 
destroyed,  he  asked  who  had  done  this  ?  "  Why  should 
I  deny  it,"  replied  Abraham;  "a  woman  brought  a  dish 
full  of  fine  flour  and  asked  me  to  set  it  before  the  gods. 
But  hardly  had  I  done  so  before  each  wanted  it,  and 
hearing  them  clamouring  thus  for  it,  the  biggest  of  them 
took  a  stick  and  broke  the  rest  in  pieces."  '*  How  can 
you  mock  me  ?  "  retorted  Terah.  "  Have  idols  reason?  " 
Then  Abraham  answered,  '^  Do  not  your  ears  hear  what 
your  mouth  speaks  ? "  But  Terah,  infuriated  at  him, 
took  him  to  Nimrod,  that  he  might  be  punished.  '^If 
you  will  not  worship  the  gods  of  your  father,"  said  the 
king,  "then  worship  fire."  "  Why  not  water,"  replied 
Abraham,  "  which  puts  out  fire  ?  "  "  Well  then,  worship 
water."  "  Why  not,  rather,  the  clouds  which  hold  the 
water  ?  "  "  Yery  well,  worship  the  clouds  as  well." 
"But  why  not,  rather,  the  wind  which  blows  the  clouds 
away  ?  "  "  Well,  worship  the  wind."  "  Why  not,  rather, 
n  ■  n,  who  can  resist  the  wind?"  But  now  Nimrod  lost 
patience,  and  told  him  that  he  spoke  only  folly.     Fire 


V  can 

on?'' 

what 

him, 

"If 

d  the 


Fire 


THE   MIGRATION  OF  ABBAHAM. 


315 


was  hw  god,  and  he  would  throw  him  into  it — "  and/' 
added  he,  "  may  your  God  come  and  save  you  from 
it." 

The  legend  goes  on  to  say  that  Abraham  was  forthwith 
bound  on  a  huge  pile  of  wood,  but  the  flames  were  su'^- 
denly  extinguished  by  a  fountain  which  sprang  up  trom 
beneath ;  the  wood  changed  into  blossoming  fruit  trees , 
a  delightful  garden  grew  around,  and  angels  were  seen 
sitting  in  it  with  Abraham  in  their  midst.^ 

The  scene  of  this  legend  is  said  to  have  been  Edessa, 
the  present  Oorfa,  a  town  lying  at  the  foot  of  one  of  the 
bare  rugged  spurs  of  the  Armenian  mountdins,  in  the 
district  called  Padan-Aram — the  "plains  of  Aram"  or 
Syria.^  A  high  crested  crag,  the  natural  fortification 
of  the  present  citadel,  doubly  defended  by  a  trench  of 
immense  depth,  cut  out  of  the  living  rock  behind  it,  is  a 
striking  feature  of  the  city.  Another  is,  an  abundant 
spring  issuing  in  a  pool  of  transparent  clearness,  and 
embosomed  in  a  mass  of  luxuriant  verdure,  which,  amidst 
the  dull  brown  desert  all  around,  makes,  and  must  always 
have  made,  this  spot  an  oasis,  a  paradise,  in  the  Chal- 
dean wilderness.  Round  this  sacred  pool,  "  The  beauti- 
ful spring," — "  Callirhoe," — as  it  was  called  by  the  Greek 
writers,  gather  the  modern  traditions  of  the  patriarch. 
Hard  by,  amidst  its  cypresses,  is  the  mosque,  on  the 
spot  where  he  is  said  to  have  oflPered  his  first  prayer;  the 
cool  spring  itself  was  the  one  that  burst  forth  in  the 
midst  of  the  fiery  furnace  which  the  infidels  had  kindled 
to  burn  him ;  its  sacred  fish,  swarming  by  thousands  and 
thousands,  from  their  long-continued  preservation,  are 
cherished  by  the  faithful  as  under  his  special  patronage, 
and  two  Corinthian  pillars  which  stand  on  the  crag  are 

*  Beer's  Lehen  Abraham,  pp.  16-21. 
■  Aram  means  *•  the  Highlands." 


!     ) 


I  ! 


) 


!i     1 


I 

4! 


I 


■  t%  I 

,        St 
~  "  'I  ■ 


'i 


i- 


816 


THE    MIGRATION    OF   ABRAHAM. 


said  to  com  mora  orate  his  deliverance.^  Nor  is  it  at  all 
certain  that  these  legends  have  not  a  centre  of  historical 
truth,  for  the  expression  of  Isaiah  ^  that  *'  God  had  re- 
deemed Abraham/'  or  "delivered  him  from  death," 
seems  to  imply  lifelong  danger  in  his  earlier  career, 
danger  from  which  his  removal  to  Canaan,  in  the  provi- 
dence of  God,  delivered  him. 

It  was  not  at  Edessa,  however,  but  at  Harran,  the 
Carrhae  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  famous  as  the  scene 
of  the  defeat  of  Crassus  by  the  Parthiaas,^  that  Terah 
and  his  tribe  settled,  and  Abraham  spent  th«  last  years 
of  his  Mesopotamian  life.  This  pastoral  region  was  to 
become  so  distinctively  the  home  of  that  poi^tion  of  the 
race  which  ren.  lined  on  the  far  side  of  the  Euphrates, 
that  it  became  known  as  the  *'  town  of  Nahor,"  *  and  is 
frequently  mentioned  iu  the  Assyrian  inscriptions  as 
Aramaic  or  Syrian — which  the  nationality  of  Terah's 
descendants  implies. 

A  vast  limestone  plateau,  seamed  by  deep  ravines,  ex- 
tends east  and  north-east  of  Oorfa,  but  sinks  into  an 
alluvial  plain  to  the  south.  On  the  slope  of  a  low  hill  in 
the  midst  of  this  lies  Harran,  looking  out  over  a  wide 
and  richly  fertile  level,  of  more  than  twenty  square  miles 
in  extent.  A  circle  of  low  volcanic  hills  shuts  in  the 
view  and  marks  the  character  of  the  landscape  towards 
the  Euphrates.  Small  brooks  appe^^r  after  rains,  but 
they  soon  disappear,  and  leave  the  open  expanse  to 
the  fierce  heat  of  the  sun,  which  ere  long  justifies  the  im- 
memorial name,  Harran,  "the  scorched/'  or  "dried  up."* 

•  Stanley's  Jeioish  Church,  vol.  i.  p.  7. 

•  Isa.  xxix.  22. 

•  Plutarch,  Vit.  Crass.,  25,  27,  28.  ••  Gen.  xxiv.  10. 

•  Professor  Sayce,  however,  explains  the  name  from  the  Ao- 
cadiau  as  meaning  "  road."      Trans.  Soc.  Bib.  Arch.,  vol.  i.  p.  303 


THE   MIGRATION   OF  ABRAHAM. 


317 


In  winter  the  temperature  is  low,  but  in  summer  the 
heat  is  intolerable,  especially  when  the  wind  blows  from 
the  Southern  Arabian  desert.  October  and  November 
see  all  traces  of  vegetation  burnt  up,  except  on  the  edge 
of  any  trickle  of  water,  but  as  soon  as  rain  falls,  all 
nature  revives,  though  only  to  be  speedily  withered  by  the 
winter  winds.  Spring  alone  covers  the  soil  with  a 
comparatively  more  abiding  carpet  of  grass,  varied  by 
countless  flowers  of  every  colour,  and  offering  every  at- 
traction of  form  and  height.  ^ 

In  the  town  itself,  the  ruins  of  an  ancient  stronghold, 
built  of  large  blocks  of  basalt,  still  attest  the  military 
importance  of  the  position.  Nor  was  it  less  favourably 
placed  for  commerce.  Four  roads  passed  through  it 
from  the  earliest  times:  to  Assyria,  on  the  east;  to 
Babylon  and  the  Persian  Gulf  on  the  south-east;  to- 
wards Asia  Minor  on  the  north,  and  to  Syria  on  the 
south-west,^  and  these  must  have  brought  Abraham 
into  contact  with  caravans  and  travellers  from  all  parts 
of  the  East  and  West.  They  were,  moreover,  the  lines 
along  which  armies  marched  in  the  constant  wars  of 
these  ages,  and  hence,  Abraham  had  very  likely  seen, 
while  still  in  Harran,  the  levies  of  Elam,  Larsa,  Sliinar, 
and  Northern  Mesopotamia ;  with  which,  under  Chedor- 
laomer,  he  was  to  come  into  hostile  contact  thirteen  years 
later,  in  Pai'^stine. 

At  the  foot  of  the  slope  which  is  crowned  by  the  ruins 
of  the  fortress,  are  neutled  the  beehive-shaped  huts  of  the 
Bedouin  population,  "^/ho  thus,  like  the  inhabitants  of  the 
many   villages   of   the   open   plain,   still   use   dwellings 


(!| 


■M 


3;  i  :•    lf.V   'I 


*  Ritter,  Erdhunde,  vol.  xi.  p.  292  ff.    Chwolson,  Ssahier,  vol.  i 
p.  303.    Malan,  Philosophy  and  Truth,  p.  87. 
2  Kiepert's  Map. 


318 


THE   MIGRATION   OP  ABRAHAM. 


5  ! 


n 


exactly  similar  to  those  seen  on  ancient  Assyrian  slabs;* 
scarcity  or  rather  want  of  timber,  forcing  them  to  adopt 
this  siiig-iilar  style  of  building.  Bare  stone  walls  raised 
witliout  cement  into  the  shape  of  a  sugar  loaf,  with  a 
holo  at  the  top  for  light,  have  in  all  ages  been  charac- 
teristic of  tlie  neiglibourhood.  Everywhere  in  the  plain 
one  meets  traces  of  ancient  canals  of  irrigation,  by  which 
the  waters  of  the  Belik  -^'ere  utilized  to  spread  fertility 
throughout  the  year  on  all  sides.  But  the  traveller  is 
especially  attracted  by  the  "  Wells  of  Rebecca,"  where 
Eliezer  met  the  future  wife  of  Isaac,  and  where  Sarah 
had  certaiul}'-  often  been,  long  before  her.  Even  now, 
the  flocks  of  Harran  gather  round  them  each  morning, 
and  the  women  still  come  to  them  to  draw  water  for  the 
day*s  use.^ 

The  fullest  description  of  this  temporary  home  of 
Abrahatn,  which  became  the  permanent  centre  of  the 
eastern  branch  of  his  race,  is  given  by  Mr.  Malan.^  He 
approached  it  from  thb  north,  where  "  the  green  slopes 
of  the  lower  hills  of  Armenia  "  have  sunk  into  a  rolling 
level  as  the  traveller  advances  from  Edessa  or  Oorfa. 
"  At  every  step,"  says  he,  "  on  the  way  to  Harran, 
which  now  lies  as  it  did  of  old  at  about  six  hours'  march 
from  Oorfa,  the  hills  on  the  right  hand  and  on  the  left  of 
the  plain  recede  farther  and  farther,  until  you  find  your- 
self fairly  launched  on  the  desert  ocean ;  a  boundless 
plain,  strewed  at  times  with  patches  of  the  brightest 
flowers,  at  other  times  with  rich  and  green  pastures, 
covered  with  flocks  of  sheep  and  goats  feeding  together; 
here  and  there  a  few  camels,  and  the  son  or  daughter 
of  their  owner  tending  them.     One  can  quite  understand 

*  Nineveh  and  Babylon,  p.  112,  I 

*  Malau's  Philosophy  or  Truth,  p.  373.    Vigomoux,  vol.  i.  p.  362. 

*  Fhiloso^hy  or  Truth,  p.  93.  -    - 


the:  migration  or  Abraham. 


mo 


tliat  the  sons  of  this  opeu  country,  tho  JJi'doiiin  lovo  it, 
and  cannot  leave  it ;  no  other  soil  would  suit  thorn.  Tho 
ail*  is  so  fresh,  tho  horizon  is  so  far,  and  man  feels  so  free, 
that  it  seems  made  for  those  whose  life  is  to  roam  at  plea- 
sure, and  who  own  allej^iance  to  none  but  themselves.  The 
ruins  of  tho  castle  surmounting  a  mound  makes  Harran  a 
landmarkplainly  visible  from  every  part  of  the  plain.  'V\\  . 
same  day  I  walked  at  even  to  the  well  I  had  passed  in  the 
afternoon,  coming  from  Oorfa  ;  the  well  of  this,  tho  r'^y  of 
Nahor,  'at  the  time  of  the  evening — the  time  when  women 
go  out  to  draw  water.'  There  was  a  group  of  them  filling, 
no  longer  their  pitchers,  since  the  steps  down  which  Re- 
bekah  went  to  fetch  the  water  are  now  blocked  up,  but 
filling  their  waterskins,  by  drawing  water  at  the  welPa 
mouth.  Everything  around  that  well  bears  signs  of  jige 
and  of  the  wear  of  time ;  for  as  it  is  the  only  well  of  drink- 
able water  there,  it  is  much  resorted  to.  Other  wells  are 
only  for  watering  the  flocks.  There  we  lind  the  troughs 
of  various  height,  for  camels,  for  sheep  and  for  goats,  for 
kids  and  for  lambs;  there  the  women  wear  nose-rings, 
and  bracelets  on  their  arms,  some  of  gold  or  of  silver,  and 
others  of  brass,  or  even  of  glass.  One  of  these  was  seen 
in  the  distance  bringing  to  water  her  flock  of  fine  patri- 
archal sheep;  ere  she  reached  the  well,  shepherds,  more 
civil  than  their  brethren  of  Horeb,  had  filled  the  troughs 
with  water  for  her  sheep.  She  was  the  Sheik's  daughter, 
the  '  beautiful  and  well-favoured  '  Sadheefeh.  As  the 
shadows  of  the  grass  and  of  the  low  shrubs  around  the 
well  lengthened  and  grew  dim,  and  the  sun  sank  below  tho 
horizon,  the  women  left  in  small  groups  ;  the  shepherds 
followed  them,  and  I  was  left  alone  in  this  vast  solitude.''  ^ 

^  Noack,  in  his  strange  book,  Von  Eden  nach  Golgotha,  supposes 
Harrp.n  to  have  been  in  the  district  of  the  Lebanon,  where  he 
fancies  Eden  also  was. 


■>  «^; 


t| 


i-l     ^ 


,111 


lii  'mi 

^  Wm 


620 


Tllfc:    MIGUATION   OF   ABIiAIIAM. 


Towards  this  district — six  hundred  miles  north-weat 
of  Ur  an  tho  crow  flies,  and  much  more  by  the  windiiijjf 
route  of  the  camel  truck,  and  <;f  tlie  j^reat  river — IVrah 
led  his  yet  undivided  tribe  wliilo  Abraham  was  still  in 
bis  early  prime;  for  when  he  left  llarran  at  the  ago  of 
seventy-five  he  had  lived  in  it  so  lon<,'  that  ho  spoke  of  it 
as  "  his  country,^'  and  "  tho  homo  of  his  kindred/' 

The  way  thither,  from  tho  south,  brought  the  patriarch 
in  contact  with  the  chief  seats  of  tho  civilization  of  tho 
day.  Passing  slowly  with  the  long  train  of  loaded  camels, 
and  tho  still  slower  multitude  of  his  herds  and  flocks, 
his  tent  would  be  pitched  on  the  third  or  fourth  night 
thirty  miles  from  Ur,^  outside  tho  gate  of  Larsa,  the  Ellasar 
of  Genesis;  with  its  great  temple-tower  crowned  by  tho 
glittering  shrine  of  the  sun  god  Sh  imas.^  Then  would 
come  Erech,  the  modern  Warka,  fiftean  miles  north-west 
of  Larsa,  with  its  huge  earthen  walls  ix  miles  in  circum- 
ference, and  its  houses  reaching  fully  three  miles  beyond 
them,  on  the  east.  High  above  mansion  and  palace  would 
bo  seen  the  tower-temple  of  Ishtar,  the  Venus  of  Chal- 
dea;  symbolized  by  the  planet  of  that  name,  and  famous, 
or  rather  infamous,  for  the  obscenities  associated  with  her 
worship.^  Even  yet,  the  ruins  form  a  hill  of  a  hundred 
feet  high.  Sixty  miles  farther  north-west,  Calneh,  or 
Nipur  would  be  reached,  in  a  country  interlaced,  like  all 
these  regions,  with  countless  threads  and  broader  chan- 
nels  of  irrigating   waters.     Here,    the   patriarch  would 

^  Ur,  in  Hebrew  means  "light,"  or  "flame,"  and  may  very 
possibly  have  given  rise  to  the  legends  of  Abraham  having  been 
condemned  to  be  burned  alive. 

2  Shemesh  is  "Sun"  in  Hebrew;  so  nearly  were  the  two 
languages  alike. 

^  Imprecations  on  the  prostitute  of  the  goddess  Ana  (Ishtar) 
who  does  not  render  faithfully  her  whameful  service,  still  remain 
on  the  clav  tablets.   Leiiormunt,  La  Magie,  p.  4. 


THE    MIORATION    Of   APRAnAM. 


321 


•west 


pass  UTiflor  tlio  slmdow  of  two  iiiij^hty  totnplo  towers, 
crowno'l  as  usual  witli  the  zij^'i^urats  of  tlio  divinities  to 
whom  they  W(M'o  (ledic'ut  I'd, — the  one,  Bel,  tlio  ^I'cat  Tjord, 
aftorwarda  known  too  well  in  Paiostino  ns  H;i:d,  ** 'I'ho 
lii,'ht  of  tho  ^'ods,"  "  tho  lofty  Ono/*  ''  the  Father  o^  tho 
gods/*  **  tho  Creator/'  "  tho  Lord  of  all/'  synd)olized  by 
tho  shiniiijj  eastern  sun  ;  tho  other,  Beltis,  "  his  consort/' 
"  the  mother  of  tho  gods/'  ^  Still  journeying  nortli- 
west,  sixty- five  miles  more  would  bring  tho  wanderers  to 
Borsippa,  with  its  tremendous  tower,  Birs  Nimrud;  tho 
great  temple  of  Merodach,  patron  of  Babylon;  worshipped 
under  tho  symbol  of  tho  planet  Jupiter.^  Fifteen  miles 
farther  on  Babel  itself  would  come  in  sight,  with  its 
towers  and  palaces,  and  wide  gardens,  and  sea  of  houses, 
and  lofty  encircling  walls.  All  these  lay  within  a  hundred 
and  fifty  miles  of  Ur.  A  few  miles  more,  and  the  bounds 
of  Chaldea  were  p;  ssed.  Cutha,  from  which  settlers 
were  to  be  sent  long  afterwards  to  re-people  the  land  of 
Israel,  desolate  by  the  captivity,  lay  fifteen  miles  north- 
east. Next  came  Sippara,  "  Book-town/'  ^ — afterwards 
Sepharvaim,  or  "the  two  Book-towns/' — and  "Town  of 
the  Sun,"*  of  later  history,  where,  according  to  legend,  the 
sacred  writings  were  buried,  before  the  Deluge.  Terah 
had  still  to  travel  a  hundred  miles  farther  north  before  he 
passed  beyond  the  edge  of  the  ancient  delta  or  alluvial 
plain  of  the  Euphrates,  and  began  to  ascend  the  table- 
land which  marks  the  first  step  upwards,  towards  the  far- 
distant  mountains  of  Southern  Armenia ;  and  he  was  still 
nearly  four  hundred  miles  from  Harran.     But  from  this 

*  These  names  are  given  to  Bel  and  Beltis  in  the  Assyrian  inscrip- 
tions.    Schrader,  p.  80.       ^  Tomkins'  Times  ofAhrahmn,  p.  26. 

*  So  Hiizig.     GescJiichte  des  Vollces  Israel,  p.  80. 

*  So  on  the  tablets.   See  for  notices  of  it,  2  Kings  xvii.  24;  xviii 
34.   Isuiah  xxxvi.  19 ;  xxxvii.  13. 

VOL.   I.  T 


t:        l| 


k( 


iw 


r.  ij 


322 


THE    MIGRATION    OP   ABRAHAM. 


point  the  country  was  as  yet  thinly  peopled,  and  the 
flocks  and  herds  might  go  where  they  liked,  as  the  pasture 
invited  them.  Harran,  "the  City  of  the  Heathen"  of 
later  times,  would  not  be  reached  till  after  a  journey  of 
months  from  Ur.^ 

Tnough  now  in  Padan  Aram,  "  the  plains  of  the  high- 
lards,"  and  so  far  from  Chaldea,  Abraham  would  find  the 
idolatry  he  had  hated  in  the  far  south  still  around  him. 
The  old  Accadian  worship  still  prevailed  and  the  Semitic 
gods  had  also  been  introduced.  The  planet  Mercury, — 
here  known  as  the  god  Merodach;  possibly  a  deification  of 
Nimrod;^ — is  recorded  on  the  tablets  as  "the  prince  of 
the  men  of  Harran,"'  and  in  the  British  Museum,  a  seal 
cylinder,  showing  a  priest  in  adoration  before  his  altar, 
has  the  inscription  '•  the  god  of  Harran."*  Even  then, 
the  priestsi  must  have  been  practised  astronomers,  for  the 
worship  of  the  planets  implies  a  systematic  watching  of 
every  phase  and  object  of  the  heavens.  It  was  a  land 
that  might  please  Terah  and  Nahor  for  its  pastures,  and 
its  temples  would  offer  them  the  idol  sanctuaries  in  which 
they  chose  to  worship,  but  the  lefty  spirit  of  Abraham 
craved  something  higher. 

*  The  distances  and  position  are  taken  from  the  map  and  text 
of  Rawlinson's  Ancient  Monaixliies,  vol.  1.  Harran  was  regarded 
i.i  Eoman  times  as  the  centre  of  local  heathenism,  a^:  Z''dessa  was 
of  Christianity. 

*  Prof.  Sayce.     Trans.  Soc.  Bib.  ArcJi.,  vol.  ii  pp.  243  ff. 
»  Ibid.,  n.24>7i  iii.  168. 

■*  An  inscription  in  the  British  Museum  (K.  2701)  records  an 
omen  in  favour  of  Kir?g  Esaihaddon  (b.c.  681),  noticed  from  the 
top  of  the  moon  temp]e  at  Hiirran.  The  moon  was  seen  *'  over 
the  cornfields,  with  t-,vo  crowns  on  its  head  ;  a  double  halo.  It 
was  taken  as  meaning  that  the  king,  who  was  aged,  should  crown 
his  sou  also,  and  this  w  s  at  once  done.  Tha  planet  Mercury,  I 
should  add,  stood  by  the  side  of  the  moon — ^and  was  interpreted 
fts  indicating  his  now  crowned  son. 


THE    MIGRATION    OP    ABRAHAM. 


323 


Separation  from  idolatry  had  become  the  fixed  passion 
of  his  soul.     Pure  amidst  prevailing'  corruption,   true  to 
the  worship  of  the  One  God  amidst  universal  apostasy ; 
his  tent,  like  the  ark  of  Noah,  preserved  the  hopes  of  the 
world  in  a  wild  ocean  of  moral  and  religious  degeneracy. 
It  was  under  such  circumstances  that  the  "  c.'il  '^  came  to 
him,  we  know  not  how,  from  God,  to  carry  out  his  fatlier's 
long-neglected    purpose  of   leaving  the  Euphrates  and 
passing  on  to  Canaan  in  the  far  south-west.     He  was  now 
seventy-five  years  old,  and  Terah  had  yet  sixty  years  to 
live,    when  the  mysterious  summons  was  thus  divinely 
sent;  but  somewhere  about  two  thousand  years  before 
Christ — rather  more  than  less — the  resolution  was  finally 
taken,  by  which  the  future  religious  history  of  the  world 
was  to   spring  from   the   movements  of  a  small  Arab 
tribe. 

It  is  necessary,  in  trying  to  realize  the  patriarch's  story, 
to  remember  that  it  was  as  the  chief  of  a  tribe  that 
Abraham  set  out  for  Canaan.  His  brother  Nahor,  and 
the  part  of  the  clan  dependent  on  him,  stayed  behind  in 
the  plains  of  Harran ;  to  become  the  father  of  twelve  Arab 
tribes — the  Nahorites^ — as  Abraham  was  to  be  that  of 
twelve  tribes  of  Hebrews.  But  the  descendants  of  Nahor 
were  to  wander  in  Edom,  on  the  Euphrates,  and  over 
Mesopotamia ;  in  Bashan,  and  to  the  east  of  Jordan,  and 
in  Northern  Arabia,^  almost  unknown  and  wholly  insignifi- 
cant in  history,  while  those  of  Abraham  were  to  form  the 
People  of  God,  and  to  give  mankind  His  Incarnate  Son, 
the  Saviour  of  the  world.  Nor  is  it  unworthy  of  notice, 
in  connection  with  their  divergent  futures,  that  Abraham's 

*  ^V  Abraham,"  in  Biiehm's  Handwdrterhuch,  gives  the  date  as 
B.c:"2146. 

»  Gen.  xxii.  22-24 

*  See  table  in  Bunsen's  Bibcl  Urkunden,  vol.  i,  pp.  78,  79. 


Hi,  ,.^ii 


iri 


Is  i 


p-i    L^i;; 


324 


THE    MIGRATION   OP  ABRAHAM. 


posterity  alone,  of  all  the  tribes  descended  from  Terah, 
abandoned  the  nomadic  for  a  settled  lifq. 

To  was,  apparently,  an  age  of  special  restlessness  among 
the  Semitic  races.  From  what  causes  we  know  not,  they 
v/ere  pressing  on,  one  after  anothot,  towards  the  north 
or  «7est.  The  Phenicians  had,  perhaps  long  before, 
migrated  from  the  shores  of  the  Persian  Gulf  and  settled 
in  Palestine;  in  the  islands  of  the  eastern  Mediterranean; 
and  on  the  coasts  of  the  Egyptian  delta  :  Semitic  tribes 
had  moved  northward  from  Babylonia  to  Assyria ;  the 
Arameans  were  ascending  the  course  of  the  Euphrates 
and  forming  colonies  on  the  eastern  frontier  of  Syria;  and 
Terah  had  resolved  on  emigrating  to  Canaan,  years  ere 
Abraham  actually  set  out  for  it.^  It  has  even  been 
thought  that  there  are  traces  of  a  conquest  of  Syria  and 
Palestine  by  Assyria  about  this  time.' 

It  is  impossible  that  such  influences  should  not  have 
affected  the  tribe  of  which  Abraham  was  head,  as  well  as 
others;  for  the  south-west  was  then,  as  it  continued  to  be 
for  ages,  the  El  Dorado  or  Golden  Land  of  tiie  Arab  races 
of  Asia  and  Syria.  There,  Palestine  lay,  beyond  the  desert; 
a  very  Paradise  in  comparison  with  it ;  with  its  brooks  of 
water,  its  fountains  and  depths  springing  out  of  valleys 
and  hills;  its  wheat  and  barley,  its  vines  and  fig  trees  and 
pomegranates;  its  oil-olive  and  honey .^  And  still  beyond, 
the  valley  of  the  Nile  had  irresistible  attractions,  in  its 
rich  fertility,  to  the  Arab  tribes  far  and  near.  Indeed, 
from  the  earliest  ages  some  of  them  had  settled  in  the 
east  of  Egypt,  where  they  were  known  as  the  Amu  or 
herdsmen,*  and    were    a   constant   incitement   to  other 


*  "Rawlinson's   Herodotus,  i. 
archies,  vol.  i.  p.  54. 


365.     Rawliiison's  Ancient  Mon- 


'  Kenrick's  P/i'^wiaa,  pp.  141,  340w.  ; 

"  Deut.  vii.  7.  *  Brngsch's  Egypt,  vol.  i.  p.  7. 


THE    MIQRATION   OF   ABRAHAM^ 


325 


related  peoples  to  enter,  if  possible,  a  region  so  diflferenb 
from  the  wastes  they  themselves  inhabited. 

But  though  such  everyday  motives  might  fill  the  hearts 
of  Abraham's  tr'be,  in  discussing  over  their  tent-fires  the 
desirableness  of  choosing  another  country  than  Harran  ;  a 
far  deeper  thought  lay  in  the  bosom  of  their  chief.  To 
him,  the  maintenance  among  his  people  of  the  worship  of 
the  One  Living  and  True  God,  endangered  so  greatly  in 
Mesopotamia,  was  doubtless,  above  all  things,  the  supreme 
consideration.  It  urged  him  with  the  authority  of  the 
"  voice  of  God  *'  Himself  in  his  soul — "  to  get  out  of  his 
country  and  away  from  his  kindred,  sunk  as  they  were  in 
idolatry,  and  from  his  father's  house,  to  a  land  that  would 
be  divinely  shown  him  " — obedience  carrying  with  it  the 
grand  promise  that  his  posterity  would  become  a  great 
nation,  and  that  he  himself,  through  them,  would  be  a 
blessing  to  the  whole  world.  That  the  "call"  and  the 
promise  were  alike  from  God,  needs  no  surer  proof  than 
the  position  of  the  patriarch  in  the  future  religious  history 
of  the  world. 

We  are  indebted  to  the  speech  of  St.  Stephen  before 
his  accusers  for  the  disclosure  of  the  fact,  that  this  "  call " 
had  already  been  given  to  Abraham  before  he  left  Ur  of 
the  Chaldees  ;^  and  it  is  quite  possible  that  it  was  through 
his  influence  that  Terah  set  out  from  that  region,  with 
the  intention  of  passing  on  to  Canaan.  But,  from  what- 
ever cause,  he  chose  to  settle  permanently  at  Harran, 
and  lef*"^  Abraham,  finally,  to  take  the  momentous  step 
alone.  It  is  not  clear  from  Genesis  whether  Terah  was 
dead  before  the  migration  of  his  son;  but  St.  Stephen 
tells  us  he  was  ;  ^  so  that,  as  Abraham  was  seventy -five 
when  he  left  Harran,  and  Terah  two  hundred  and  five 
at  his  death,  the  birth  of  the  patriarch  could  not  have 
•  »  Acts  vii.  2.  3  Acts  vii.  4. 


'f  I 


326 


THE   MIORATION   OV  ABRAHAM. 


tf'' 


.^/» 


i- 


^ 


tnken  place  before  his  father's  hundred  and  thirtieth  year. 

This,  however,  is  not  singular,  as  Abraham's  marriage 

with  Keturah  is  set  down  in  the  chronology  of  our  Bibles 

as  takiTig  place  in  his  hundred  and  forty- third  year.' 

That  Abraham  set  forth  at  the  head  of  a  large  body  of 

tribesmen  is  evident,  from  his  taking  with  him  all  his 

herds,  and  all  the   male  and  female  slaves  born  in  his 

tents,  or  whom  he  had  bought  in  Harran ;  a  multitude 

so  large  in  the  aggregate  as  to  enable  him,  a  few  years 

later,    to    select    from    among    them,    on   the    moment, 

three  hundred  and  eighteen  men  trained  to  the  soldierly 

dc  jnce  of  the  camp,  to  pursue  Chedorlaomer.     In  fact, 

though  he  did  not  call  himself  a  king,  but  preferred 

the    simple    dignity  of   a   tribal    chief,  he  was   always 

regarded  by  the  Canaanite   kings   as   their   equal,  and 

allied  himself  with  them  as  such.*     Josephus,^  quoting 

from  an  author  now  lost,*  even  tells  us  that  "  Abraham 

ruled  in  Damascus,  being  a  foreigner,  who  came  with  an 

army  out  of  the  land  above  Babylon,  called  the  land  of 

the  Chaldeans.     But  after  a  long  time  he  got  him  up, 

and  removed  from  that  country,  with  his  people  also, 

and  came  into  the  land  then  called  the  land  of  Canaan, 

and  this  when  his  posterity  were  become  a  multitude." 

He  adds  that  the  name  of  Abraham  was  still  famous  at 

Damascus,  and  that  a  house   was    still   shown   as   his.^ 

That  the  Jews  should  not  have  preserved  traditions  of 

Abraham  s    connection   with   Damascus   doubtless   rose 

'  If  Terah  were  dead  before  Abraham  left  Harran,  the  "  seventy 
years  "  in  Gen.  xi.  26  must  mean  that  the  Aroungestjson  was  born 
when  Terah  was  seventy,  and  the  others  at  long  subsequent  dates. 

*  Ewald's  Geschichte,  voL  i.  p.  441. 

*  Ant.,  i.  7,2.  *  Nicolaus  Damnscenua. 

'  With  all  this,  there  is  no  ground  for  thinking  of  Abraham, 
with  B<.M  theau  {Geschiclite,  p.  218),  as  heading  a  great  migration 
of  vast  masses  of  people,  , 


» 


lis/ 


THE   MIGRATION   OF  ABRAHAM. 


82! 


from  the  fact  that,  apparently  in  the  interval  between 
his  death  and  that  of  Jacob,  that  city  was  taken  by  the 
A.rarneans,  or  Syrians — from  the  river  Kir,  in  Armenia — 
and  was  thus  wholly  and  permanently  rendered  a  foreign 
comm unity  to  the  Hebrews.  Henceforth,  indeed,  it  wa3 
often  spoken  of  by  them  simply  as  "  Aram/' 

The  journey  from  Harran  would  naturally  lie  along  the 
track  leading  towards  the  ford  of  the  Euphrates  and  the 
road  beyond,  used  as  a  caravan  route  to  and  from  Damas- 
cus. Leaving  the  wells  and  the  sanctuary  of  his  tribe,^ 
round  which  his  brother  Nahor  lingered,  and  where  we  still 
find  Laban  two  generations  later ;  he  would  cross  the 
great  river  near  where  the  ancient  Apamea  once  stood, 
and  the  modern  Birs  now  stands.  Thus  far  up  the  course 
of  the  stream,  the  steamer  Tigris,  under  Col.  Chesney, 
was  able  to  ascend  in  I806:  a  distance  of  1,117  miles  from 
the  Persian  Gulf;  The  country  is  rough  with  hills,  the 
outlying  spurs  >f  the  great  Taurus  chain ;  though  pastoral 
stretches  intervene ;  but  it  is  not  till  far  to  the  south  that 
the  broad  levels  of  Chaldea  are  reached.  It  took  Abra- 
ham two  days  to  reach  the  great  stream  rolling  at  his  feet 
beneath  high  chalk  cliffs,  in  volume  and  breadth  not 
unlike  the  Rhone.  The  ford  by  which  he  crossed  it, 
apparently  at  Zeugma — a  little  west  of  Birs — is  still  in 
use.  Once  on  the  western  side,  he  was  finally  committed 
to  the  journey  on  which  his  heart  had  so  long  been  set. 
Others  had  borne  before  him  the  name  of  "  Hebrews," 
for  that  of  "  Heber,"  ^  a  remote  ancestor,  is  almost  tho 
same;  but  henceforth  it  was  peculiarly  applicable  to  him 
and  his  descendants,  as  those  who  had  "  passed  over " 
from  the  far  side  of  the  "  Great  River." 

The   old   track   or   road   to    Damascus   stretched   on, 

*  Ewald,  vol.  i.  p.  4-1)5. 

*  Heber,  in  Luke  iii.  35;  Eber,  in  Gon.  z. 


?■■;; 


m 


■ ,  %h 


hi 


Ma 


328 


THE   MIQRATTON   OF  ABRAHAM. 


south-west,  to  the  future  site  of  another  Apamea ;  passing 
through  Berasa,  where.  Julian  halted  on  his  last  fatal 
campaign,  after  two  days'  laborious  march  from  Antioch  i 
through  Chalcis,  with  its  marsh,  where  salt  is  still 
gathered  after  the  heats ;  then,  oouth,  through  Hamith, 
the  future  capital  of  a  Syrian  kingdom,  conquered  by 
David ;  and  on  through  Emesa,  famous  in  after-days  for 
its  magnificent  Temple  of  the  Sun,  to  Damascus  :  a  dis- 
tance, in  all,  of  between  three  hundred  and  fifty  and  four 
hundred  miles.*  He  had  been  only  about  a  hundred  and 
thirty  miles  from  the  Mediterranean  when  he  left  the 
banks  of  the  Euphrates,'^  but  his  joai  ney  had  run  nearly 
parallel  with  it,  and  at  Damascus  it  still  lay  between  fifty 
and  sixty  miles  to  the  west. 

Dean  Stanley  has  described  the  circumstances  of  the 
journey  with  a  picturesqueness  which  iavites  quotation. 
"All  their  substance  that  they  had  gotten  is  heaped  high 
on  the  backs  of  their  kneeling  camels.  *  The  slaves  that 
they  had  bought  in  Harran '  run  along  by  their  sides. 
Round  them  are  their  flocks  of  sheep  and  goats,  and  the 
asses,  moving  beneath  the  towering  forms  of  the  camels. 
The  chief  is  there,  amidst  the  stir  of  movement,  or  rest- 
ing fat.  noon  within  his  black  tent,  marked  out  from  the 
rest  by  his  cloak  of  brilliant  scarlet,  by  the  fillet  of  ropo 
which  bmds  the  loose  handkerchief  round  his  head,  by 
the  spear  which  he  holds  in  his  hand  to  guide  the  march, 
and  to  fix  the  encampment.  The  chief's  wife,  tho 
princess  ^  of  the  tribe  is  there  in  hei'  own  tent,*  to  make 

*  Kiepert's  Map. 

^  On  a  line  with  Oorfa  the  Mediterranean  is  distant  only  eighty- 
three  miles. 

*  Sarah  =  princess ;  Sarai=the  queenly  one.  This  is  the  latest 
f»tymology.  Earlier  explanations  male  Sarai  =  my  princess ;  or 
"noble,"  or  even  "conteniious,"  •'quarrelsome." 

*  Gen.  xxiv.  67. 


THE   MIGRATION   OF    ABRAHAM. 


329 


the  cakes,  and  prepare  tbe  usual  meal  of  milk  and 
butter ;  ^  the  slave  or  the  child  is  ready  to  bring  in  the 
red  lentile  soup  for  the  weary  hunter,*  or  to  kill  the  calf 
for  the  unexpected  guest.  Even  the  ordinary  social 
state  is  still  the  same  :  polygamy,  slavery,  the  exclusive- 
ness  of  family  ties ;  the  period  of  service  for  the  dowry 
of  a  wife;  the  solemn  obligations  of  hospitality;  the 
temptations,  easily  followed,  into  craft  and  falsehood."  ^ 

The  way  from  Damascus  to  Canaan  lay,  at  first,  straight 
from  Damascus,  across  the  green  valley  of  the  Pharpar, 
tho  arid  hill  country  of  Geshur,  and  the  richly-wooded, 
rolling  landscapes  of  Bashan,  with  their  straths  of  rich 
pasture,  and  the  flow  of  clear  waters  in  every  bottom,  to 
Edrei ;  one  of  the  two  capitals  of  Bashan,  and,  in  after- 
times,  the  seat  of  Og,  its  Amorite  king ;  on  the  northern 
edge  of  the  Hauran,  or  "  Burnt  Country."  Without 
water,  without  access  except  over  rocks  and  through 
defiles  all  but  impracticable,  the  strange  city  fortress 
would  be  as  novel  a  sight  to  Abraham  as  its  ruins, 
amongst  a  wilderness  of  shattered  volcanic  rocks,  seamed 
with  countless  fissures,  are  to  the  traveller  still.  Thence 
his  slow-footed  camels,  and  still  slower  flocks  and  herds, 
would  turn  westward,  towards  the  Jordan,  and  descend 
from  the  uplands,  over  which  they  had  hitherto  advanced, 
to  the  ford,  seven  miles  below  the  Sea  of  Galilee.  The 
isolated  Phenician  colony  of  Bethshean,  in  its  richly 
fertile  hollow,  under  Gilboa,  would,  then,  soon  be  left 
behind,  and  climbing  the  ascent  of  the  hills  of  Samaria, 
and  crossing  over  and  round  them  for  twenty,  or  five 
and  twenty  miles,  they  would  reach  Shechem,  in  the 
centime  of  Palestine,  the  resting-place  of  the  patriarch  for 
the  time. 

*  Gen.  xviii.  2-8.  *  Gen.  xxv,  34, 

*  Stanley's  Jewish  OJmrch,  vol.  i.  p.  11,  12. 


■J: 


,1 


'1    '  ' 

ll  -1' 

• 

■ 


CHAPTER  XX. 


THE     FRIEND     OP    GOD. 


HAD  Abralmm  be  m  only  the  h 
however  famous  in  his   '^ay, 


head  of  an  Arab  tribe. 


ly,  his  name  must  have 
perished  long  ages  aoro,  lik(i  that  of  other  men  locally 
great  in  their  day  That  ii'  is  venerated  still  by  Jew, 
Mahometan  and  Christian  alike,  is  due  to  his  having 
given  the  true  religion  to  mankind,  and  thus  being  for 
ever  identified  with  it. 

It  is  nevertheless  unlikely  that  he  was  absolutely  the 
only  one  in  Chaldea  who  held  to  the  pure  faith  of  earlier 
ages,  in  those  trying  tioes  when  idolatry  was*  rapidly 
spreading  and  developing;  perhaps  with  fierce  bigotry 
and  intolerance.  There  may  have  been  other  Pilgrim 
Fathers  from  the  Euphrates  towards  Canaan  or  Egypt ; 
then,  in  spite  of  its  moral  corruption,  so  famous  for 
religious  wisdom  and  insight ;  but  if  so  they  have  left  no 
trace.  In  Abraham,  however,  the  aluost  lost  truth 
shines  out  again  with  a  splendour  that  has  illuminated 
all  ages  since.  He  stands  on  the  edge  of  the  past,  a 
grand  figure ;  like  Abdiel,  faithful  alone  among  the  faith- 
less ;  braving  all  persona)  danger  in  defence  of  his  con- 
victions, and  lea'dng  behind  him  home  and  friends ;  to 
wander,  at  God's  command,  to  unknown  lands,  that  he 

330 


THE   PHIEND   OP  GOD. 


331 


ll   '  \ 


might  find  in  them  that  spiritual  freedom  denied  him  in 
his  native  country. 

But  his  personal  character  is  not  alone  the  ground  of 
his  lofty  place  in  the  history  of  religion.  His  influence 
on  his  household  and  descendants,  in  moulding  their  faith 
by  his  own,  and  thus  founding  the  true  kingdom  of  God 
amongst  men,  gives  him  a  world-wide  interest.  To  have 
rejected  Chaldean  and  Canaanitish  idolatry,  and  in  their 
place  to  have  adopted  a  spiritual  religion,  marks  him  as 
second  only  to  One  other  in  the  history  of  mankind.  His 
fidelity  in  this  is,  indeed,  specially  noticed  to  his  honour. 
"I  know  him/'  says  the  Almighty,  "that  he  will  charge 
his  children  and  his  descendants  after  him,  to  keep  the 
way  of  Jehovah  and  live  righteously  and  justly  (by  doing 
so) — and  because  of  this,  Jehovah  will  fulfil  what  He  has 
promised  respectiipf  him." ^  Nor  was  his  genuine  and 
lofty  fear  of  God  unnoticed  or  unacknowledged  in  his 
own  day ;  for  the  most  powerful  and  the  most  religious 
among  the  foreign  races  in  whose  midst  he  wandered, 
were  forward  to  own  that  "  God  was  with  him,"  and  on 
this  acccuiii  eagerly  sought  his  friendship  and  blessing.^ 

The  supreme  dignity  of  being  called  "  The  Friend  of 
God  "  alike  in  the  Old  an>^.  New  Testaments,'  is  only  a 
further  and  grander  embodiment  of  the  same  estimate  of 
his  character,  under  the  sanction  of  the  Divine  Spirit 
Himself;  and  it  is  striking  that  even  outside  the 
Scriptures  its  justness  has  been  so  widely  recognised, 
that  in  all  Mahometan  countries  the  name  "El  Khalil 
Allah,"  "  The  Friend  of  God,"  or  simply  "  El  Khalil," 

*  Gen.  xviii.  19.  Translations  of  Zunz  and  De  Wette.  Dill- 
mann  explain^  "I  know  him,"  as  equivalent  to  "I  have  made  a 
special  covenant  with  him."     See  Amos  ii.  2.     Hosea  xiii.  5. 

>  E-'-ald,  vol.  i.  p.  456.     See  Gen.  xiv.  18-20;  xsi.  22-32. 

*  2  Chron.  xx.  7.    Isaiah  xli.  8.    James  ii.  23. 


ftl 


f -/ 


332 


THE    FRIEND    OP   GOD. 


has  entirely  superseded  his  own.  But  this  title,  so  unitjnej 
is  of  far  higlier  than  any  personal  significance.  It  bears 
with  it  all  tliat  dieting uisiics  a  true  religion  from  a  false. 
Not  only  must  God  bo  a  Divine  Personality  to  show 
friendship  at  all ;  He  must  be  the  One  Only  God  thus 
to  attract  to  Himself  the  undivided  love  and  hornairo 
of  His  creatures.  He  can  neither  be  confounded  with 
the  universe,  as  in  Pantheism,  nor  with  idol  gods.  Still 
more,  it  clothes  Him  with  the  infinite  attractions  of  a 
nature  which,  in  loving,  can  itself  bo  loved,  and  thus 
bases  rehgion  on  its  only  true  footing,  the  affections  and 
the  heart.  With  the  Friend  of  God,  to  serve  Him  is  no 
mere  observance  of  rites  or  ceremonies ;  it  must  be  the 
loyal  devotion  of  the  sodI  and  life,  transforming  man  into 
the  spiritual  image  of  Him  whom  He  adores  and  delights 
to  obey. 

Herder's  words  on  Abraham  in  this  connection  are 
characteristic.^  "Men  have  sometimes  communed  with 
gods,  genii,  and  departed  heroes,  but  not  with  God,  the 
One  God  of  heaven  and  earth,  in  a  way  so  calm  and 
trusting.  The  stranger  has  no  other  friend  than  He, 
who  had  brought  him  into  this  remoteness ;  but  Him  he 
possesses  as  the  Friend  of  friends.  What  tender  passages 
are  there  in  the  intercourse  of  God  with  him ;  how  He 
comforts,  directs,  cheers  him  with  future  hopes;  gives 
him,  now,  the  pledge  of  a  covenant,  now,  the  sign  of 
friendship,  now,  a  new  name,  now,  symbols  to  impress  his 
heart,  and  demands  now  this,  now  that,  return  of  love  to 
Himself." 

It  was  especially  as  "The  Father  of  the  Faithful," 

that   this    transcendent   honour    was    vouchsafed    him. 

*'  Abraham  believed  in  Jehovah,  and  He  counted  it  to 

him  for  righteousness" — believed  with  a  loving  trust, 

*  Oeist  der  Ebrdischen  Poesie  (1827),  vol.  ii.  p.  11. 


THE    FUIEND   OF   OOD. 


33)3 


for  that  is  tlic  force  of  tho  Hebr(3\v  word.  It  moatis, 
indeed,  not  siin[)ly  that  ho  yielded  an  intellectual  assent, 
but  that  he  rested  on  God's  word  as  a  house  stands 
immovable  on  a  sure  foundation;  that  he  leaned  on  God 
as  weakness  loans  on  strength ;  that  he  reposed  in  un- 
doubting  trust  in  Him  as  a  child  in  its  mother's  arms  j 
that  his  faith  was  no  intermittent  fervour,  but  abiding, 
before  God,  as  the  stream  of  a  nevL-r  lailing  river.^  No 
delay  of  fulfilment  ever  made  him  waver ;  no  difficulties 
or  discouragements  ever  made  him  doubt.  Nor  was  it  a 
faith  which  contented  itself  with  merely  passive  graces; 
it  coloured  his  whole  life;  finding  its  natural  expression 
in  obeying  the  voice  of  Jehovah,  keeping  His  charge. 
His  commandments,  His  statutes,  and  His  laws.^  To 
count  such  a  faith  as  itself  righteousness  was  only  to  give 
the  same  name  to  the  hidden  hfe  of  the  soul  and  to  its 
outward  manifestations. 

How  hard  it  must  have  been  to  attain  such  a  frame, 
and  to  preserve  it  through  life,  they  can  best  feel  who 
are  most  desirous  of  making  it  their  own.  The  in^uence 
of  the  universal  example  of  idolatry  itself  demanded  a 
rare  moral  courage  to  surmount ;  for  to  dare  to  be  alone 
is  given  to  very  few.  And  even  when  he  had  learned  to 
trust  the  Unseen  Father,  how  terrible  were  the  trials  to 
which  that  coTifidence  was  exposed  1 

It  has  been  well  remarked  that,  in  i^s  application  to 
Abraham,  the  title  of  the  Father  of  the  Faithful  had  a 
breadth  of  significance  instinctively  felt  far  outside  the 
limits  of  his  own  race.  He  was,  indeed,  the  Father  of 
the  chosen  people,  but  in  a  nobler  sense  he  was,  also,  the 
Father  of  all  true  believers  of  every  age  and  nation. 
As  such  St.  Paul  adduces  his  name  in  support  of  a 
plea  for  the  extension  of  the  promises  of  God  to  the 
*  Gesenius'  Lexicon,  p.  65.  '  Geu.  xxvi.  6. 


'¥\ 


m 


Ml 

m 

•fill 


:i 


'  P 


8]4 


THE   FRIEND  OF   GOD. 


Guntilo  as  freely  as  to  the  Jew,  and  it  is  this  which 
miikt's  him  the  boasted  ancestor  of  the  Arab  no  less  tliau 
of  the  llobrow.  "The  scene  of  his  life,  as  of  the  patri- 
archs generally,  breathes  a  larger  atmosphere  than  the 
contracted  limits  of  Palestine — the  free  air  of  Mesopo- 
tamia and  the  desert — the  neighbourhood  of  the  vast 
shapes  of  the  Babylonian  monarchy  on  one  side,  and  of 
Egypt  on  the  other.  He  is  not  an  ecclesiastic,  not  an 
ascetic,  not  even  a  learned  sage  j  but  a  chief,  a  shepherd, 
a  warrior,  full  of  all  the  afifections  and  interests  of  family 
and  household,  and  wealth  and  power,  and  for  this  very 
reason  the  first  true  type  of  the  religious  man,  the  first 
representative  of  the  whole  Church  of  God."  ^ 

No  details  are  given  of  the  creed  of  Abraham,  but,  in 
addition  to  his  confession  of  the  One  Only  Living  God,  it 
must  have  ircluded  all  that  was  true  in  the  popular 
beliefs  of  Chaldea.  This  would  imply  his  knowledge  of 
the  sabbath ;  for  the  seventh  day,  by  a  tradition  handed 
down  from  Eden,  was  "  holy  "  in  his  Eastern  native  land, 
and  was  honoured  by  the  cessation  of  all  work  on  it. 
He  had  been  accustomed  to  weekly  assemblies  for  public 
worship,  if  only  of  idols ;  to  religious  processions,  music, 
hymns  of  adoration,  and  prayer.  The  burning  of  in- 
cense was  familiar  to  him.'  Propitiatory  sacrifices  of 
rams  and  of  bulls  had  been  so  multiplied  in  Chaldea 
that  their  blood  was  spoken  of  as  flowing  like  water. 
But  he  had  also  been  familiar  with  the  hideous  sight 
of  human  sacrifice.*  A  sacred  ark  dedicated  to  one  of 
the  gods  seems  to  have  been  known  in  Babylonia  from 
the  earliest  times.*     Some  idea  of  the  guilt  of  sin  still 

*  Stanley's  Jewish  CTiwrch,  vol.  i.  p.  21. 

'  Smith's  Assyr.  Discov.,  p.  191.  ■  See  page  309. 

*  Smith's  Assyr,  Discov.  p.  175.    Lists  of  the  gods  appear  in  the 
inscriptions. 


THE   FRIEND  OF   QOD. 


336 


reniainod,  and  its  due  punislimont  Wft8  taupflit  in  popu- 
lar lo^otids,   it*  not  otliLM'wise.      The  fall  of  the  aiigela 
and    of   mon ;  tho  story  of  the  flood  ;  the  belief  in  the 
iminortality  of  tlio   soul,   in  a  judgment   to  come,  in  a 
heaven  of  blessedness,  where  tho  lioly  were  robed  in  white, 
and  enchanting  music  delighted  the  senses;  in  a  place  of 
punishment,  and  pei'haps  even  in  the  resurrection  of  the 
dead,  were  still  articles  of  the  popular  creed,  and  as  such 
must   have    been    shared    by    Abraham.^     God    Himself 
was  known  to  him  and  worshipped  as  El,  or  Elohim,  a 
name  handed  down  from  the  first  ages  of  tho  world,  and 
long  retained  in  Chaldea  and  Phenicia;  the  populations 
of  which,  as   we   have  seen,  had  originally  a  common 
home  on  the  Persian  Gulf.     It  is  striking  however,  that 
with  A.brahara  and  in  the  Bible  generally,  El  is  never 
used   alone,  but   always   in   such   a  combination  as  El 
Shaddai — tho  Almighty  God ;   the  plural  form   Elohim 
being   the  constant  form   employed   instead.     The  true 
explanation  of  this  as  only  an  idiomatic  expression  of 
the  highest  adoration  has  been  already  given.^     Some, 
however,  have  fancied  they  see  in  it  a  lingering  trace  of 
polytheism  having  changed  the  original  singular  into  a 
plural,  when  gods  were  multiplied.     But,  if  that  be  so, 
Abraham,  and  Israel  in  all  ages  after  him,  wrested  it  at 
once  and  for  ever  from  such  an  idolatrous  use,  and  con- 
secrated it  so  strictly  to  the  doctrine  of  One  God,  that  it 
never  has  a  plural  sense  in  Scripture  when  appll:  i  to  the 
Divinity ;  except  in  rare  cases  where  the  gods  of  the 
heathen  are  expressly  intended. 

Thus  it  is  to  Abraham  we  owe  the  transmission,  not 
only  of   the  knowledge  of  many  articles  of  permanent 

*  Proofs  of  the  existeuco  of  these  beliefs  among  the  Accadiuna 
are  given  at  p.  310. 
5   See  p.  11.  V 


! 


1  • 


!!/«* 


ii 


836 


THE    FRIEND   OF  000, 


religious  faith,  and  of  many  of  the  events  of  the  earliest 
history  of  the  world,  utilized  afterwards  by  Moses,  under 
Divine  guidance,  in  the  compilation  of  the  first  books  o^ 
Scripture .;  but  also  that  greatest  of  all  truths,  the  Unity, 
Personality,  and  Holiness  of  God.^ 

How  Abraham  could  thus  have  given  to  men  a  doctrine 
80  sublime,  and  so  utterly  unknown  outside  the  sphere 
of  revelation,  *  is  a  question  of  the  highest  interest,  the 
answer  to  which  cannot  perhaps  bo  better  given  than  in 
the  words  of  Max  Miiller,  a  few  lines  of  which  have  been 
already  quoted.  "  How  is  the  fact  to  be  explained,"  he 
asks,  that  the  three  greatest  religions  of  the  world,  in 
which  the  unity  of  the  Deity  forms  the  keynote,  are  of 
Semitic  origin  ?  Mahometanism,  no  doubt,  is  a  Semitic 
religion,  and  its  very  core  is  monotheism.  But  did  Ma- 
homet invent  monotheism  ?  Did  he  invent  even  a  new 
name  of  God  ?  Not  at  all.  And  how  is  it  with  Christi- 
anity? Did  Christ  come  to  preach  faith  in  a  new  God? 
Did  he  or  His  disciples  invent  a  new  name  of  God  ?  No. 
Christ  came,  not  to  destroy,  but  to  fulfil,  and  the  God 
whom  He  preached  was  the  God  of  Abraham.  And  who 
is  the  God  of  Jeremiah,  of  Elijah,  and  of  Moses  ?  We 
answer  again :  The  God  of  Abraham.  Thus  the  faith  in 
the  One  Living  God,  which  seemed  to  require  the  ad- 
mission of  a  monotheistic  instinct,  grafted  in  every 
member  of  the  Semitic  family,  is  traced  back  to  one  man  j 
to  him  '  in  whom  all  tho  families  of  the  earth  shall  be 
blessed.'  And  if  from  our  earliest  childhood  we  have 
looked  upoi  Abraham,  the  Friend  of  God,  with  love  and 
veneration,  his  venerable  figure  will  assume  still  more 

*  We  caunot  readily  dou'  t  that  it  is  to  tho  patriarch  wo  owe 
also  tho  tiiDles  of  descent  of  races  aud  families;  for  they,  too, 
sprang  from  a  Clialdean  centre.  - 

'  liuuseu,  Urkundeu,  vol.  i.  p.  100. 


THE    FRIEND   OP   GOD. 


837 


majestic  proportions,  when  we  see  in  liim  the  life-spring  of 
tluit  laitli  which  was  to  unite  all  the  nations  of  the  earth, 
and  the  author  of  that  blessing  which  was  to  come  on 
the  Gentiles  through  Jesus  Christ.  And  if  we  are  asked 
how  this  one  Abraham  passed,  through  the  denial  of  all 
other  gods,  to  the  knowledge  of  the  one  God,  we  are 
content  to  answer  that  it  was  hy  a  special  divine  revela- 
tion,  granted  to  that  one  man,  and  handed  down  by  hira 
to  Jews,  Christians,  and  Mahometans,  to  all  who  believe 
in  the  God  of  Abraham.  We  want  to  know  more  of  that 
man  than  we  dc;  but  even  with  the  little  we  know  of 
him,  he  stands  before  us  as  a  figure,  second  only  to  One 
in  the  whole  history  of  the  world."^ 

That  Abraham,  the  founder  of  the  Hebrew  nation  and 
of  their  religion,  should  move  in  their  records  only  as  a 
man  among  men,  marks  the  infinite  contrast  between  Bible 
history  and  all  other.  There  is  no  cloudy  dawn  in  the 
annals  of  the  favoured  race,  no  fabulous  age  of  gods  or 
demi-goda,  or  incredible  heroes.  Legend,  outside  Scrip- 
ture, may  attempt  to  invest  their  founder  with  super- 
natural attributes,^  but,  in  the  Bible,  he  is  always  a  man 
and  nothing  more.^  There  is  no  confounding  of  the 
Divine  and  human.  God  remains  absolutely  and  infinitely 
Belf-complete  and  unapproachable  in  His  essence,  and  it 

»  The  Times,  April  J 4th  and  15th,  1860. 

2  See  a  wonderful  collection  of  such  legends  in  Bayle's  Die- 
tionaire,  art.  Abraham. 

^  He  is  portrayed,  above  all,  as  a  pattern  of  moral  excellence. 
T  e  is  not  the  hero  to  be  honourpd  for  mighty  deeds  by  which  he 
txjilted  him^c'lf  to  agod  or  doini-tjod,  as  the  ancestors  of  other 
nations  are  represented  in  their  traditions.  He  lives  in  the 
heart  of  the  world  not  as  a  WMirior  and  conqueror,  but  as  a  self- 
eacrificing  man,  humbly  obedient  to  God,  acting  and  thinking 
nobly  in  all  purity  and  simplicity.  Gruetz,  Geschichte  der  Juden-f 
vol.  i.  p.  9. 

^'^OL.  I.  •  K 


I      y 


838 


THE  FRIEND  OF  GOD. 


is  only  by  an  act  of  immeasurable  condescension  that 
even  the  Father  of  the  Faithful  is  dignified  as  "His 
Friend."  i 

Of  the  outward  religious  life  of  Abraham  we  have  only 
incidental  glimpses.  Wherever  he  pitches  his  tents,  au 
altar  forms  the  natural  sanctuary  of  the  encampment, 
but  it  is  of  the  simplest  materials — rough  stones,  or 
modest  turf,  and  it  stands  under  the  open  sky.  Of  any 
sacrifices  offered  by  him,  except  after  the  deliverance  of 
Isaac  on  Mount  Moriah,  there  is  no  hint;  for  the  victims 
slain  on  the  occasion  of  the  great  covenant  granted 
him  by  Jehovah  were  rather  customary  rites  of  such  an 
occasion,  than  offerings  in  the  common  acceptation.  But 
whatever  forms  prevailed,  they  were  carried  out  by  him- 
self, as  at  once  the  father  and  household  priest.  Each 
of  his  four  great  halting-places  in  Canaan — Shechem, 
Bethel,  Hebron,  and  Beersheba — had  its  altar,  no  doubt 
near  his  tent,  which,  as  that  of  the  sheik  of  the  tribe, 
would  seem  to  have  been  usually  pitched  under  the  shade 
of  some  umbrageous  trees,  as  in  the  case  of  the  tere- 
binths, or  oaks  at  Mamre  and  at  Shechem,  or  of  the 
tamarisks  at  Beersheba.^ 


*  2  Chron.  xx.  7.    Isa.  xli.  8.    James  ii.  23. 

^  The  word  translated  "  plain  "  in  the  English  version,  Gen. 
xii.  6 ;  xiii.  18 ;  should  be  terebinth,  the  Pistacia  terehinthiis  of 
botanists,  and  the  turpentine  tree  of  the  Greek  islands.  It  is 
very  common  in  the  south  and  east  of  Palestine,  and  is  generally 
found  in  situations  too  dry  and  warm  for  the  oak,  which,  how- 
ever, it  much  resembles  at  a  distance.  The  word  "  grove"  (Gen. 
xxi.  3:')),  should  be  translated  "tamarisk  tree,"  for  which  the  soil  of 
Beersheba  is  well  suited.  Tristram  mentions  that  he  frequently 
pitched  his  tent  under  the  shade  of  this  kind  of  tree.  Its  appear- 
ance is  very  graceful,  with  its  long  feathering  tufts  and  branches, 
closely  clad  with  the  minutest  of  leaves,  and  surmounted  in 
spring  with  spikes  of   beautiful  pink   blossom,  which  scorn  to 


THE   FRIEND  OF  GOD. 


839 


The  unique  position  of  Abraham  in  connection  with  tho 
worship  of  the  true  God,  and  as  the  father  of  the  chosen 
people,  is  marked  in  his  history  by  such  relations  to  the 
Almighty  as  have  never  before  or  since  been  granted  to 
any  mere  man.  Even  before  his  setting  out  for  Canaan, 
we  are  told,  the  pain  of  leaving  his  country,  and  kindred, 
and  his  father's  house,  was  softened  by  gracious  com- 
munications from  above,  which  stretched  the  brightness 
of  a  great  promise,  like  a  rainbow,  over  the  cloud.  "  I 
will  make  of  thee,''  said  the  Divine  intimation,  "  a  great 
nation,  and  I  will  bless  thee  and  make  thy  name  great, 
and  thou  shalt  be  a  blessing.  And  I  will  bless  them  that 
bless  thee,  and  curse  him  that  curseth  thee ;  and  in  thee 
shall  all  families  of  the  earth  be  blessed/'  It  is  in  keep- 
ing with  the  child-like  confidence  in  God  by  Which  he 
was  so  marked,  that  the  words  immediately  follow — "  So 
Abram  departed,  as  Jehovah  had  spoken  unto  him."^  A 
childless  man,  already  seventy-five,  it  was  yet  enough  for 
him  that  he  had  the  word  of  the  Almighty.  His  faith 
in  the  Divine  promise  gave  him  an  unwavering  "  confi- 
dence in  things  hoped  for,"  and  an  abiding  "  conviction  " 
of  the  "reality  of  things  not  seen;"  and  it  brought  its 
reward.  His  first  ercampment  of  Shechem  became,  in 
effect,  a  formal  taking  possession  for  his  distant  posterity 
of  the  land  he  had  entered ;  for  the  promise  was  presently 
confirmed  to  him,  "  Unto  thy  seed  will  I  give  this  land." 
Years  passed,  while  the  tencs  of  the  tribe  were  in  turn 
pitched  at  Bethel,  on  the  banks  of  the  Nile,  and  at 
Hebron,  but  the  promise  remained  unfulfilled.  The  faith 
that  had  so  long  endured  triumphantly  was,  however,  to 
be  rewarded  by  a  special  honour,  shown  to  no  one  before 

envelop  the  whole  tree  in  one  gauzy  sheet  of  colour.    Tristram's 
Natural  History  of  the  Bible,  p.  358. 
*  Gen.  xii.  2-4. 


VvT 


840 


THE   FRIEND  OF  OOD. 


or  since.  As  tlie  ^reat  patriarch  rested  in  his  tent  under 
the  terebinths  of  Mamre,  at  Hebron,  "  the  word  of  the 
Lord  came "  to  him  "  in  a  vision,"  saying  "  Fear  not, 
Abrara,  I  am  thy  shield,  and  thy  exceeding  great  re- 
ward." Undoubting,  but  sorely  perplexed,  the  long-tried 
man  feels  as  if  any  bounty  shown  him  can  be  of  little 
good,  old  as  he  is,  and  ere  long  to  die  childless ;  with  only 
his  head  slave,  Eliezer  of  Damascus,  as  his  heir.  The 
custom  thus  indicated  is  of  immemorial  antiquity  in  the 
East,  and  still  prevails  among  the  Mahometans  of  India. 
In  default  of  children,  or  where  there  are  only  female 
descendants,  the  father  of  a  household  adopts  a  slave  as 
his  heir  and  marries  him  to  one  of  his  daughters ;  to 
keep  the  property  together. ^  Even  in  Scripture,  indeed, 
we  find  the  same  practice,  as  in  the  case  of  the  mighty 
Jarha,  mentioned  in  the  book  of  Chronicles.  ^ 

But  the  future  was  richer  for  the  patriarch  than  he 
dreamed ;  for,  presently,  he  seemed,  in  the  vision,  to  be 
led  outside  his  tent,  and  told  to  look  up  at  the  countless 
stars,  glittering  in  the  brightness  of  a  Syrian  sky — those 
stars  worshipped  in  his  native  land  as  radiant  gods,  but 
now  to  be   regarded  only  as  glories  of   the  Creator's 

*  Forbos'  Oriental  Memoira.  "  Go  "  (Gen.  xv.  2).— go  hence  — 
die.    Luther,  rightly  "  Ich  gehe  dahin." 

2  1  Chron.  ii.  34.  In  Abraham's  case  Eliezer  had  been  born  in 
hi=<  master's  tents,  and  was  thus  dearer  to  him  than  a  slave  bought 
from  without.  The  notice  of  Abraham's  chief  slave  has  an 
allusion  to  Damascus,  which  is  retained  in  the  Greek  Bible.  This 
"  son  of  Meshek,'  runs  the  Hebrew— that  is,  this,  my  heir  pre- 
sumptive, is  "  Damesck,"  or  Damascus  *'  Eliezer."  "  Son  of 
Meshek  "  means  "  the  son  of  his  inheritance  or  property."  That 
it  was  not  uncommon  to  adopt  a  faithful  slave,  and  make  him  an 
heir,  when  his  owner  was  childless,  is  seen  in  the  case  of  Jarha, 
noticed  above.  Doubtless,  as  in  this  instance,  the  daughter  of 
the  master  was  often  married  tQ  a  favoured  slave,  to  keep  the 
property  in  the  family. 


THE   FRIEND   OF  QOD. 


341 


power.  As  lie  did  so  the  words  fell  on  hia  ear,  "  liko 
these,  innumerable,  shall  be  thy  descendants."  "  A  child 
of  thine  own  shall  be  thy  heir."  Ten  years  had  passed 
since  the  promise  of  the  land  had  been  given ;  now  it 
was  added  that  the  inheritance  should  be  direct,  in  hia 
o\yn  posterity.  It  was  hard  to  credit  it,  at  his  age,  and 
in  his  circumstances,  but  the  triumph  of  his  unwavering 
confidence  in  God  is  recorded  in  the  words,  "  he  believed 
in  Jehovah,  and  He  counted  it  to  him  for  righteousness." 
His  childlike  trust  was  reckoned  as  a  fulfilment  of  the 
Divine  law  of  obedience  and  love. 

This  loyal  faith,  which  had  hitherto  found  its  all  suflBc- 
ing  support  in  the  word  of  Him  who  cannot  lie,  was 
now,  in  His  infinite  condescension,  to  have  the  outward 
assurance  of  a  human  form  of  covenant,  to  which  future 
ages  might  permanently  appeal.  In  Abraham's  native 
Chaldea  solemn  agreements  or  treaties  were  confirmed 
by  rites  which  still  continued  in  use  from  his  day  to  the 
fourth  century  after  Christ  ;^  and  these  were  to  be  observed 
as  between  God  and  the  patriarch,  that  he  and  his  descen- 
dants migho  have  a  memorial  of  the  gracious  promise 
of  the  Almighty  to  them.  The  incident  seems  to  have 
marked  the  day  after  the  vision.^  A,  young  heifer,  a 
she  goat  and  a  ram,  each  of  three  years  old,  were  wont 
to  be  divided  in  the  ceremony  of  human  engagement 
between  contracting  parties,  and  the  pieces  set  far  enough 
apart  to  let  these  pass  between  them  :  as  if  to  call  down 

*  Von  Bohlen's  Genesis,  p.  180.  A  burning  lamp  or  fire  is  still 
used  in  India,  in  ratification  of -a  covenant.  A  person  promising 
anything,  if  t'.oubted,  points  to  the  flame  of  a  lamp,  adding,  'i  hai  is 
my  witness.'  At  other  times,  the  parties  to  a  covenant  confirm  it 
by  saying,  *We  invoke  the  lamp  of  the  Tomple.'  Huberts'  Jllantra- 
tions. 

^  Delitzsch  and  Ewald. 


If 


M 


yr 


'f\  m 


m 


Hi 


342 


THE   FRIEND  OF  QOD. 


on  themselves  the  fate  of  the  victims,  if  they  broke  the 
covenant  thus  ratified.  In  Abraham's  case  a  turtle  dove 
anfi  a  young  pigeon  were  added,  apparently  as  an  offering. 
Each  circumstance  usual  in  human  covenants  was  rigidly 
observed,  even  to  the  age  of  the  creatures  slain ;  for  three 
was  apparently  the  sacred  number  constantly  used  in 
pledges,  oaths,  and  treaties.* 

The  uWided  pieces  duly  set  at  sufficient  distances  apart; 
Abraham,  watchful  and  steadfast,  stayed  near  to  guard 
them,  and  await  the  end.  Ere  long,  when  the  sun  began 
to  set,  birds  of  prey,  of  evil  omen,  swooped  down  at  the 
carcases,  but  only  to  be  driven  off. 

Presently,  as  the  short  twilight  of  the  East  was  giving 
place  to  night,  the  patriarch  sank  into  a  deep  sleep — the 
common  medium  of  Divine  visions.  "  And,  lo,  a  horror 
of  great  darkness  '*  seemed,  in  his  sleep  to  fall  on  him — 
and  he  heard  words  disclosing  future  sufferings  to  be  borne 
by  his  posterity;  of  which  the  birds  of  bad  omen  and  this 
gloom  had  been  the  fitting  precursors.  But,  now,  its 
blackness  is  strangely  broken,  for  between  the  pieces  of 
the  victims  are  seen  passing  "  a  smoking  furnace  and  a 
burning  lamp  "  ^ — the  symbols  of  the  presence  of  the 
Almighty — and,  in  keeping  with  the  brightness,  the 
sacred  words  of  a  covenaut  are  heard,  in  which  the 
whole  land  is  formally  given  to  Abraham,  from  the  river 
of  Egypt  ^  to  the  great  river,  the  river  Euphrates.     The 

>  Ewald's  Alter.,  p.  177.    Dillmann's  Genesis,  pp.  172,260. 

*  The  word  '•  furnace,"  is  Tannur — a  large  round  pot  of  earthen 
or  otier  materials,  two  or  three  feet  high,  narrowing  towards  the 
top.  It  is  Uiicd  for  an  oven  by  being  heated  within  ;  the  dough 
in  then  spread  on  its  glowing  sides,  where  it  presently  forms  thin 
cakes.  Seo  Illustration^  p.  436.  The  Tannur  is  slill  used  in  the  East. 

The  word  "  lamp,"  is  Lappid  =  Greek,  Lampas,  a  lamp  or  torch. 
In  Ex.  XX.  18,  it  is  translated  "  lightnings."   See,  also,  Judg.  iv.  4. 

^  The  river  of  Egypt  is  the  Wadi  el  Arish,  a  torrent  bed  on  the 


THE    FRIEND  OF  QOD. 


843 


gift  was  from  God,  and  He  alone  was  making  the  promise, 
so  tliat  the  symbols  of  His  sanction  only  were  soon, 
and  thus  was  confirmed,  by  a  sacred  pledge,  thL  wondrous 
covenant  between  God  and  man. 

In  establishing  the  kingdom  of  God  amongst  men  it 
was  still,  however,  necessary  that  its  members  should 
have  some  mark  to  distinguish  and  separate  them  from 
the  idolatrous  people  around ;  and  for  this  purpose  the 
rite  of  circumcision  was  adopted.  It  had  been  practised 
before,  by  various  races,  but  henceforth  it  was  to  become 
the  special  badge  of  the  chosen  people.  The  Chaldeans, 
Abraham's  own  people  knew  nothing  of  it,  nor  did 
the  tribes  of  Palestine ;  except  perhaps  the  Phenicinns  ;^ 
but  the  Egyptians  had  practised  it  from  immemorial 
antiquity.*  It  is,  however,  indifferent,  whether  this  be 
so  or  not,  for  its  introduction  among  the  Hebrews  had  a 
special  and  independent  significance ;  and,  in  any  case,  it 
stands  only  in  the  same  relation  to  Divine  truth  as  the  use 
of  sacrifice,  which  obtained  before  Moses ;  or  of  baptism, 
which  was  practised  before  Christ  gave  it  the  dignity  of 
a  sacrament.  To  Abraham  and  his  posterity  circumcision 
was  an  abiding  sign  of  consecration  to  God,  and  of  ad- 
mission into  the  congregation  of  Jehovah.  The  nations 
around  had  their  distinctive  forms  of  dedication  to  their 
idols,  in  the  fanciful  trimming  of  their  beards  and  hair, 
forbidden  so  strictly  to  the  Jews,^  and  in  the  tatooing  the 

south  of  Philistia.    The  Euphrates  became  the  boundary  of  the 
kingdom  of  Israel  under  David.    1  Kings  iv.  21 ;  viii.  65. 

*  Jos.,  A7it,  viii.  10,  3.  His  seemingly  contradictory  testimony 
is  cleared  up  by  passages  in  Herodotus.  Yet  in  Ezokiel's  time 
they  do  not  seem  to  have  been  circumcised,  unless  the  language 
of  Ezek.  xxxii,  30,  means  by  uucircumcised,  simply  heathou,  un- 
clean. 

2  Ebers'  2Egypter  and  die  Biicher  Moee'e,  pp.  280,  281. 

*  Lev.  xix.  27. 


^1 


i 


344 


THK    FRIEND   OF   QOD. 


sign  of  a  god  on  tho  brow,  the  arm,  or  tho  hand,  ^  as  la 
still  common  in  the  East.  But  circumcision  was  much 
more  than  this,  for  it  presented  the  child  or  the  man  as 
an  offering  to  God — a  part  of  the  body  standing  for  the 
whole — and  tacitly  owned  that  even  life  was  rightfully 
His,  though  redeemed  by  so  slight  and  typical  a  substi- 
tution.* And  though  in  later  ages  a  mark  of  division 
and  narrowness,  in  the  tents  of  the  early  Hebrews  it  wa? 
only  a  much  needed  aid  abiding  badge  of  separrt^un 
from  tho  deg*  ooral  •«\c  s  ami'lst  wh'oh  they  lived,  and 
of  conseci-ation  io  J«^;ovah.^ 

The  instituuioi)  *  f  tin*:-  rite  marks  the  formal  estab- 
lishment of  the  true   reiijjion   among   the  posterity  of 

'  Isa.  xliv.  5.  "  Subscribe  with  his  hand  unto  the  Lord,"  should 
be  "  writes  on  his  hand  the  name  or  sign  of  Jehovah." 

»  Ewald's  Alter.,  p.  124 

■  Wilkinson  has  found  proof  of  the  practice  of  circumcision  in 
Egypt  as  early  as  the  fourth  dynasty,  that  is,  long  before  Abraham 
(vol.  V.  p.  318).  There  is  also  an  instructive  painting  of  the  time 
of  the  Oppression  of  tho  Jews  in  Egypt,  showing  the  mode  of  per- 
forming tho  rite.  It  is  described  by  Chabas,  Bevue  Archceolo- 
gique  (1861),  pp.  298  ff.  Nearly  all  mummies,  moreover,  are  cir- 
cumcised. Ebers,  p.  233.  The  Jews  ciroamcise  on  the  eighth 
day :  the  Mahometans,  properly  in  the  thirteenth  year,  as  the 
time  when  Ishmaol  was  circumcised.  The  rite  has  been  found 
widely  practisfiH  wVipre  it  might  have  been  least  expected — among 
the  negroes  of  the  Oongo  and  many  African  tribes,  including  the 
Caffres ;  and  also  in  the  Fiji  islands ;  among  the  Indians  of  Cen- 
tral America,  tho  ancient  Mexicans  and  other  Indian  races. 
Curiously,  The  Speaker's  Commentary,  \6\.  i.  p.  122,  and  Land  and 
the  Book,  p.  590,  not  knowing  the  evidence  of  the  Egyptian  monu- 
ments, suppose  that  the  priests  of  Pharaoh  learned  about  circum- 
cision from  Joseph.  The  remark  of  Michaelis  is  acute,  that  if 
Abraham  had  not  already  known  about  it,  more  minute  directions 
would  have  been  given  him.  Mos.  Becht,  vol.  iv.  p.  185.  Ebers 
(p.  233)  says,  that,  in  Egypt,  as  among  the  Hebrews,  *'  uucircum- 
cised"  was  equal  to"  unclean";  **  circumcised," to  " clean,"or  "pure." 


THE    FRIEND   OP   GOD. 


845 


I 


Abraham,  and  was  thus  tho  first  step  in  that  gracious 
plan,  which  culminated  in  the  life  and  death  of  our  Divine 
Saviour.  Henceforward,  Abraham  and  his  tribe  bore  in 
their  persons  a  pledge  of  loyalty  to  God,  and  of  a  life 
worthy  of  Him.  To  mark  the  great  occasion,  the  pro- 
mise of  the  birth  of  a  son  within  a  year — the  child  of 
Sarah — accompan'cd  the  institution;  and  the  name  Abra- 
ham, thb  "  Frther  of  a  multitude  (of  nations),"  was  substi- 
tntp^  for  Abram,  the  "exalted  Father"  or  tribal  head, 
while  that  of  Sarah,  "the  princess,"  took  the  place  of  Sarai, 
"  the  princely."  Abraham,  now  ninety  years  old,  had  lived 
for  twenty-three  years  among  the  corrupt  and  idolatrous 
tribes  of  Canaan.  Henceforth,  throup-H  this  self-reve- 
lation of  God,  the  contrast  between  L  m  nd  the  vain 
gods  around  rose  in  his  soul  to  its  "all  ?eatness  and 
immeasurable  significance.  From  tl  '  ti  le  he  recognises 
and  worships  God  as  El  Shaddai,  the  vod  who  has  and 
exercises  all  power;  and  holds  him  'f  ^nd  his  race  as  for 
evea"  separated  from  every  god  but  Him.  His  relation 
towards  Him  is  henceforth  closer  and  nobler  than  that  of 
other  men,  for  he  holds  from  Him  a  covenant,  divinely 
sealed,  constituting  him  and  his  posterity  the  People  of 
God.  Already,  in  the  days  of  Moses,  circumcision  is  as- 
sumed as  an  established  rite,  long  prevalent ;  the  badge 
of  Israel  as  the  chosen  race. 


■•** 


m 


^Sj 

jj^l^^  jB/J 

■^ 

1 

BJtJt  jlr1|^^4B^vi^' v^^^ 

K 

1 

CHAPTER  XXI. 


PALESTINE    AND    EGYPT  IN   ABRAHAM'S   DAY. 


THE  land  to  which  Abraham  had  been  divinely  led 
was  one  in  keeping  with  the  great  purpose  of  God; 
that  to  his  descendants  should  be  committed,  pre-emi- 
nently, the  religious  education  of  the  world.  Lying  in 
the  centre  of  the  then  known  world ;  in  close  contact  at 
once  with  Europe,  Asia,  and  Africa  ;  spiritual  influences 
would  radiate  from  it  to  a  wider  circumference  than  was 
possible  from  any  other  country.  Its  wide  variety  of 
climate,  moreover,  embracing  every  gradation  between 
that  of  temperate  regions,  in  the  district  of  Lebanon,  and 
that  of  the  sub-tropical,  in  the  valley  of  the  Jordan ; 
secured  that  the  revelation  which  was  to  go  forth  from  it 
to  the  whole  world,  would  embody  a  range  of  nature!  ex- 
periences which  would  fit  it  for  all  countries  and  popula- 
tions ;  for  its  imagery  and  modes  of  thought  must  neces- 
sarily be  coloured  by  its  composition  in  a  land  which  was, 
in  effect,  an  epitome  of  the  habitable  world. 

Moreover,  its  delightful  brightness,  and  the  f ruitfulnesa 
of  its  soil,  which  did  not  require  the  toilsome  cultivation 
necessary  in  lands  like  Egypt  j  and  its  nearness  to  coun- 
tries from  whose  resources  it  could  easily  procure  what 
it  did  not  itself  yield,  were  fitted  to  raise  its  people  almost 
at  once  above  the  need  of  a  struggle  for  their  primary 

846 


FALK8TINE   AND    EQYPT    IN   ADIJAHAM  8    DAY. 


347 


led 

!od; 


wants ;  and  thus  to  pfive  freedom  and  leisuro  for  hi<;lier 
tlioughts.  Nor  could  tho  fact  tli:it  Canaan  was  only  a 
narrow  strip  of  coast,  horamed  in  on  one  side  by  tho 
terrible  desert  and  on  tho  other  by  the  boundless  ocean, 
be  without  influence  on  the  reli^nous  life,  in  the  vivid 
contrasts  it  otTorod  of  abundance  uud  wantj  aud  of  life 
and  death. 

Both  Palestine  aud  Egypt,  appear  in  the  earliest 
glimpses  we  have  of  them,  as  lands  i  Veady  occupied  by 
a  settled  population,  with  towns  and  governments.  An 
Egyptian  speaks,  even  before  Abraham's  day,  of  its  corn- 
fields, fig=',  vineyards  and  fortresses  j*  and  it  is  noted  in 
Genesis  that  Hebron  was  built  seven  years  before  Zoan, 
or  Tanis,  in  Egypt ;  an  Asiatic  settlement  which  carried 
to  the  valley  of  tho  Nile  the  worship  of  Baal,  the  chief  god 
of  the  Hittites.^  An  Egyptian  of  a  later  date,  but  still 
earlier  than  the  patriarch,  speaks  of  it  as  "abounding  in 
wine  more  than  in  water,'*  of  the  plentifulness  of  its  honey, 
and  of  its  palms ;  adding  that  all  its  trees  were  fruit-bear- 
ing, and  that  it  yielded  barley  and  wheat,  and  had  no  end 
of  cattle.'  As  to  its  olives,  they  were  so  abundant  that 
one  district  had  an  olive  tree  for  its  hieroglyphic  sign. 

But  amidst  all  this  early  civilization  there  had  already 
spread  a  profound  moral  corruption.  Human  sacrifice 
marked  the  worship  of  the  gods,  and  unnatural  sins  re- 
ceived their  name  from  Sodom,  one  of  the  Cana;inite 
towns ;  nor  was  it  possible  that  any  population  which 
might  settle  in  their  midst  could  escape  being  more  or 
less  affected  by  these  baneful  influences. 


I. 


1 


^ 


If. 


W 


1 


SI. 


r'h*\ 


*  Chabas  Etudes,  pp.  106-114.      Brugsch's  Histoi'y  of  E'jijptt 
vol.  i.  p.  100.     Los  Pap.  Tlleratiques  dc  Berlin  (Cbaba.s),  pp.  7'.',  85. 

'  Trans.  Soc.  Bib.  Arch.,  vol.  iii.  p.  11:^. 

•  Story  of  Saneha ;  Records  of  the  Past^  vol.  vi.  p,  139.  MasperOf 
pp.  108-110. 


I  mm 


348 


PALBSTINB   AND    EGYPT   IN   ADRAHAM^B   DAY. 


Yet,  withal,  tho  natural  phenomena  of  tho  country 
Bceracd  to  provielo  special  Diviuo  warnings  to  rouso  its 
people  from  evil  and  urgo  thoin  to  a  nobler  life.  Earth- 
quakes of  great  violence  were  not  unknown ;  for  the  cities 
of  the  plain  perished  by  one,  and  Amos  records  another 
in  the  days  of  King  Uzziah.*  Violent  floods  not  uu- 
frequently  wasted  its  valleys.^  Terrible  storms  and 
burning  winds  from  the  desert  swept  over  it  at  times ; 
seasons  of  drought  brought  after  them  famine ;  and  visita- 
tions of  grasshoppers  and  other  insect  plagues  were  only 
too  frequent.*  Swift  death  came  with  the  plague,*  and 
hateful  diseases,  like  lepro&y,  clung  to  numbers  through 
life,  while  property  and  even  existence  were  constantly 
exposed  to  the  sudden  inroads  of  enemies ;  for  Palestine 
was  at  all  times  coveted  by  the  nations  round  it.  In  the 
hand  of  God  such  judgments  might  well  rouse  His  people 
to  watchfulness,  and,  indeed,  often  won  them  back  to  a 
higher  life,  when  urged  by  the  voice  of  their  prophets. 

When  we  remember  how  large  a  space  tho  smallest 
oasis,  or  even  a  well,  occupies  in  Arab  chronicles,  as  the 
scene  of  vehement  and  bloody  disputes  for  its  possession, 
it  may  be  readily  conceived  how  eager  the  struggle  must 
have  been,  from  the  earliest  times,  for  a  land  which  seemed 
the  paradise  of  the  world  to  the  dwellers  in  the  waste 
and  thirsty  regions  to  the  east  and  south  of  it.  Hence, 
from  the  first,  we  find  Canaan  peopled  by  many  races, 
each  tenaciously  holding  its  district,  however  small, 
atid  refusing  to  lose  its  individuality  amidst  the  new 
waves  of  population  pressing  in  from  time  to  time.  What 
the  Caucasus  was  to  the  Aryan  races,  Palestine  was  to 


*  Amos  i.  1.  Tiberias  was  almost  destroyed  by  an  earthquake  in 
1837.  *  Judges  v.  21.    Amos  viii.  8. 

"  Joel  i.  and  ii.  *  Amos  iv.  10. 


PALRSTINE   AND    EGYPT    IN   AMRAITAM  8    DAY. 


3il) 


the  Semitic ;  in  both,  a  crowd  of  tribes,  indeponJont  of 
eacli  other,  thronged  to  take  possession  of    the  tempting 
Vttlloys,     lu  the  days  of  Abraham,   however,  there  was 
still  much  opeti  space  for  pasture  between  the  bounds  of 
the  various  peoples. 

Of  the  original  inhabitants  of  the  Holy  Land  it  is  diffi- 
cult to  speak  with  confidence,  but  they  seem  to  have 
survived  in  Abraham's  time  and  still  later,  in  the  Uorites 
or  Cave  dwellers,  who,  latterly,  were  found  chiefly  iu 
Mount  Seir.  It  may  perhaps  bo  of  them  that  Job  speaks, 
ages  later,  as  driven  from  their  possessions  into  the  most 
barren  parts  of  Mount  Seir,  by  invaders,  and  maintaining 
their  lives  only  in  the  utmost  misery ;  though  still  fierce, 
when  opportunity  ofifered,  against  their  conquerors.^ 

Part  of  the  country  on  both  sides  of  the  Jordan  was 
held  by  a  race  of  men,  known  variously  as  the  Itefaim, 
the  Emim,  the  Zainzummim,  the  Sons  of  Auak,^  and  the 
Amorites.  This  last  name,  indeed,  simply  means  dwellers 
on  the  hill  tops,  from  their  custom  of  building  their  forti- 
fied towns  on  heights,  like  the  castles  of  the  robber 
knights  of  Europe  in  the  middle  ages.  As  I  have  noticed 
before,  the  Hebrews  were  struck  with  awe  by  their  height 
and  bulk  of  body,  and  looked  on  them  as  giants  ;  as  the 
Goths  of  antiquity  were  regarded  in  their  day,  or  as  the 
splendid  north  European  races  of  the  present  time  are 
regarded  now,  among  less  nobly  grown  peoples.'*  "  The 
Amorites,"  says  Amos,*  centuries  later,  are  "  high  as  a 


I. 
fit" 


I 


*  Job  xxiv.  5-8 ;  xxz.  1-10.  It  would  be  a  parallel  oasf"  to  that 
of  he  Bushmen,  driven  into  the  African  desert  and  mountain 
cave8  by  stronger  races ;  or  of  the  Eskimo  and  the  Tena  del 
Fuegi.ms  driven  into  the  terrible  extremes  of  the  North  and 
South,  respectively. 

'  Anak,  =  the  Wearer  of  a  *' chain  round  the  neck," -^^  the 
King.  »  See  p.  188.  "*  See  p.  21.3. 


I 


I 


mem 


350 


PALESTINE   AND    EGYPT   IN   ABRAHAM'S   DAY. 


cedar,  and  strong  as  an  oak/'^  and  with  this  they  were 
naturallv  warlike  and  fierce.  Their  country,  called  by  the 
Eiifvptians,  froin  their  name,  Amar,  reached  from  the 
heights  of  Akrabbim,  the  "Scorpion  Steps"  of  the  central 
hills,^  far  into  tiie  Negeb  or  South  Country  of  Judah,  and 
also  on  the  south  of  the  Dead  Sea  east  and  south,.embrac- 
ing  Bashan  and  the  country  south  of  it,  on  the  east  of  the 
Jordan.  Part  of  them,  under  the  name  of  Jebusites,  held 
Jerusalem  till  the  days  of  David,^  and  the  hills  long  their 
chief  seat  still  retain  the  names  of  "  Amarin  "  among  the 
fellahs.  Two  of  their  fortified  towns,  Debir  and  Kadesh, 
are  yet  to  be  seen  on  Egyptian  monuments.  The  former 
is  apparently  the  same  as  Kiriath  Sepher,  or  Book-town,*  a 
proof  in  its  name  of  an  advanced  civilization.  The  latter, 
mentioned  in  the  invasion  of  Chedorlaomer  in  Abraham's 
day,  is  represented  as  built  on  a  hill  side,  with  a  stream  at 
the  foot,  and  embosomed  in  trees,  showing  a  very  different 
condition  of  the  far  south  of  Palestine  in  that  age  from  its 
present  characteristics.  East  of  the  Jordan  their  chief 
city  was  Ashteroth  Karnaim,  the  "  city  of  the  two-horned 
Ashteroth," — the  crested  moon — which  was  worshipped 
under  the  form  of  this  goddess  or  Astarte,  the  Istar  of 
Assyria,  to  whom  the  moon  and  the  planet  Venus  ^  were 
sacred.*    Nor  are  we  without  some  glimpses  of  even  the 

*  A  valley  at  Jerusalem  bore  the  name  of  the  Valley  of  Kefaim 
or  of  *'the  giants,"  till  the  days  of  Joshua,  and  even  much  latni-. 
Josh,  xviii.  16.  Isa  xvii.  5  Ezekiel  says  of  Jerusalem,  'Thy 
fatner  was  an  Amonte,  and  thy  mother  a  Hittite." 

^  Amos  ii.  9.  8  josh.  xvii.  15. 

*  Prof.  Sfiyce  says  that  Hebron,  not  Kadesh,  was  the  "  Cifcy  of 
Books."  Trans.  Soc.  Bib.  Arch.,  vol.  v.  p.  28.  M.  Chabas  gives 
ihe  nonour  to  Debir,  as  in  tho  text. 

•  Si;h racier,  ill  Stadlen  und  Kritiken  (1874),  p.  -^37. 

•  Little  is  known  of  the  religion  of  the  Aniorites,  but  it  was 
evidently  borrowed,  in  part,  at  least,  from  Chaldea,  and  yet  dilicied 


a, 


Thy 


PALESTINE   AND   EGYPT   IN   ABRAHAM'S   DAT.  351 

personal  appearnrjco  of  this  ancient  race.  The  Egyptian 
monumonts  represent  them  as  wearing  a  long  close  robe 
with  short  sleeves,  bound  round  the  waist  by  a  girdle ; 
their  hair  darkened  by  exposure  but  elaborately  dressed 
and  worn  long,  sometimes  with  an  ornamented  fillet  ?'ound 
the  head;  and  with  flowing  reddish  beards,  which  con- 
trasted strongly  with  a  tawny  complexion  and  blue  eyes.* 

In  war  they  used  strong  chariots,  bu'^,  like  ourselves 
in  the  middle  ages,  their  chief  arm  was  the  bow;  an 
oblong  shield  defended  the  archer  from  the  weapons  of 
the  enemy.  Moreover,  in  the  picture  of  the  assault  of 
Dapur  or  Debir,  by  Rameses  II.,  a  shield,  pierced  with 
three  arrows,  and  surmounted  by  a  fourth,  tied  across  the 
top  of  a  flagstaff,  glitters  over  the  highest  towers  of  the 
citadel  as  their  national  standard.^ 

The  Amalekites,  apparently  an  Arab  race,  lived  in  the 
extreme  south,  where  only  the  pasturage  of  wandering 
flocks,  by  tent-using  tribes,  was  possible.  They  seem, 
before  Abraham's  time,  to  have  been  one  of  the  st/ongest 
rmd  most  warlike  peoples  of  North-west  Arabia,  and  had 
doubtless  often  invaded   Palestine  from  the  south  and 

from  that  of  the  forefathers  of  the  Hebrews  (Josh.  xxiv.  15).  It 
was,  however,  largely  the  same  as  that  of  the  Phenicians  (1  Ki tiers 
xxi.  26).  It  is  curious  to  find  that  the  name  Souir,  given  to 
Hermon.the  grandest  peak  of  Lehaiion,  is  an  Amorite  word.  The 
Befaim  or  j^iants  were  also  called  Nephilim,  which  may  mean  men 
of  a  different  birth  from  the  common.  Oehler,  Ilerzog,  xxi.  p.  417. 
Graetz,  however,  thinks  it  means  the  "  overthrown,"  in  reference 
to  the  tradition  of  their  having  sought  to  fight  against  heaven,  at 
the  Tower  of  Babel.  In  Genesis  vi.,  indeed,  the  word  translated 
giants  is  Nephilim.     But  see  page  188,  yiote. 

'  There  is  an  admirable  copy  of  the  portrait  of  an  Amorite  from 
the  Egyptian  monuments,  at  the  beginning  of  Mr.  Tomkins'  Life 
and  Times  of  Abraham. 

'^  Wilkinson's  Ancient  Egypflana,  vol.  i.  p.  309. 


tir 


m 


352 


PALESTINE   AND   EOTPT  IN  ABRAHAM'S   DAY. 


sought  to  make  it  their  own.  They  first  come  before  us 
as  holding  the  whole  district  from  the  south  of  Canaan  to 
Egypt,  and  also  as  seated  on  what  were  later  the  hills  of 
Epbraim,  which  then  bore  their  name.  They  appear, 
however,  to  have  been  early  driven  into  the  desert,  but 
they  never  forgot  that  they  had  once  been  owners  of  part 
of  the  much  coveted  land  of  hills  and  valleys,  and  con- 
stantly sought  to  regain  their  old  footing.  It  was  doubt- 
less the  fond  clinging  to  the  hope  of  some  day  making 
Canaan,  or  at  least  part  of  it,  their  own  again,  thai  car.sed 
their  fierce  Bedouin  attacks  on  Israel  on  its  way  from 
Egypt,  cutting  off  the  weary  and  the  stragglers,  and  ha- 
rassing the  march.  In  the  Hebrews  they  saw  only  rival 
competitors  for  a  great  prize,  and  strove  hard  to  keep  them 
from  it;  but  drew  down  on  themselves,  instead,  a  terrible 
curse.  "  I  swear,"  said  Moses,  "  with  hand  uplifted  to  tha 
throne  of  Jehovah,  that  He  proclaims  war  in  Amalek  from 
generation  to  generation."  ^  How  this  was  fulfilled  will 
be  seen  hereafter ;  age  after  age  the  Hebrews  hated  and 
sought  to  destroy  them,  till  the  last  known  representative 
of  the  race,  Haman,  "  the  Agagite,"  that  is,  "  of  the  royal 
Amalekite  family,"  was  hanged  through  the  influence  of 
Esther,  the  Jewess,  at  the  court  of  the  king  of  Persia. 

These  various  races  had  at  one  time  occupied,  more 
or  less  wholly,  the  wide  regions  beyond  the  Jordan  as 
far  as  the  Euphrates,  and  southward  to  the  Red  Sea. 
The  few  names  connected  with  them  which  still  survive, 
are  apparently  Semitic;  and  the  fact  that  the  chiefs, 
when  overcome  by  Israel  in  later  times,  found  a  refuge 
among  the  Philistines,*  themselves  a  branch  of  the  Semitic 
race,  apparently  from  ths  colonics  which  early  settled  in 
the  eastern  islands  of  the  Mediterranean,  seems  to  confirm 

*  Exod.  xvii.  16.     I  give  Ewald'a  translation. 
»  Josh.  ii.  22.    2  Sam.  xxi.  13-22 


PALESTINE    AND   EGYPT   IN   ABRAHAM'S   DAT. 


353 


tlio  belief  that  the  primitive  population  of  Palestine  was 
of  that  great  stock. 

The  Hittites  seem  to  have  been  a  different  people  from 
the  great  confederacy  of  the  Cheta,  now  known  as  the 
Hittite  empire,  whose  strength  in  Syria  tried  the  whole 
power  of  Egypt  under  Rameses  II.,  four  hundred  years 
after  Abraham's  time.  They  may,  however,  have  been 
a  related  tribe,  or  an  isolated  and  feeble  colony.  Id 
Palestine  the  sons  of  Heth  appear  as  dwellers  in  the 
valleys,  in  contrast  to  the  mountaineer  Amorites,^  from 
whom  they  differed  radically  in  their  occupations  and 
modes  of  life;  while  striving  as  far  as  possible  to  maintain 
their  independence.  We  find  them  scattered  from  Hebroii 
in  the  south,  to  Bethel,  in  the  middle  of  the  land ;  ^  fond 
of  peace ;  living  in  settled  communities ;  acting  through 
popular  assemblies ;  and  marked  by  a  gentle  civilization. 
It  was  with  the  Amorites  that  Abraham  allied  himself  for 
war ;  but  when  he  wished  secure  possession  of  property 
he  turned  to  the  sons  of  Heth. 

The  Perizzites,  a  name  meaning,  like  that  of  the  Hittites, 
"  dwellers  in  the  open  country,"  were  a  peaceful  race ; 
preferring  quiet  villages  to  fortresses,  ^.nd  living  in  the 
fertile  tracts  of  Central  Palestine, — the  graziers,  farmers, 
and  peasants  of  the  time,  though  only  few,  apparently,  in 
numbers.  Like  them,  the  Hivites,  another  ci.m,  were 
little  inclined  to  war,  but  sought  a  modest  industrious 
life  in  the  central  district,  where  Gibeon  was  one  of  their 
chief  towus ;  a  people  preferring,  like  the  Phenicians, 
to  submit  at  once  to  any  invader,  and  thus  secure  their 
commercial  interests,  rath'>r  than  endanger  thorn  by 
fighting  for  independence.^      Their  name  perhaps  points 


>  Ewald,  vol.  i.  p.  374.     See  p.  252. 

*  Gen.  xxiii.  26,  31;  xxvii.  46.     Judges  i.  26. 

•  The  case  of  the  Gibeoiiites  with  Joshua  ia  an  instance. 


It  is 


VOL.    I. 


A   A 


ft 


^  'W 


,(  . 


'im 


"1  i' 


3Vi 


PALESTINE   AND   EGYPT   IN    ABRAHAM'S    DAT. 


I 


to  their  cities  forming  free  republics,  for  it  m%j  mean 
*'the  communities;''  thou<^h,  possibly,  it  alludes  to  their 
position  as  an  *' inland  people." 

The  name  Canaanite  was  especially  given  to  the  Phe- 
nician  settlements  in  the  rich  valley  of  the  Jordan,  where 
the  cities  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah  belonged  to  them,  and 
also  the  delightful  meadows  and  town  of  Bethshei\n,  below 
tlie  Sea  of  Galilee.  Sliechem  and  Hebron,  likewise,  are 
thought  by  some  to  have  been  theirs.^  But  their  special 
geat  was  ou  the  low  lands  bordering  the  Mediterranean, 
where  they  had  been  settled,  no  one  knows  how  long. 
The  keenest  business  people  of  nuti(inity,  th.^ii  rrane, 
which  originally  meant  a  "lowlandor,"  came  gradually  to 
be  synonymous  with  a  "  trader;"  while  their  famous  cities 
of  Sidon  and  Tyre  ^  were  the  seats  of  a  wondrous  com- 
mercial activity  and  energy.  Even  in  Abraham's  day 
the  chimneys  of  their  gro'.t  glassworks  and  dyeing 
factories  may  have  caugb^  the  eye  from  the  inland  hills, 
as  they  still  did  in  the  day*  of  Christ ;  and  their  vast 
harbours  crowded  with  sea-going  ships,  and  lined  with 
vast  warehouses,  may  even  in  the  days  of  the  patriarch 
have  been  the  glory  of  the  land.  Everywhere,  either  as 
masters  of  the  sea  and  famous  mariners,  or  as  founders  of 
prosperous  colonies  in  the  Me<i/^ranean  islards,  on  the 
coast  ^  the  Egyptian  delta,  and  even  in  distant  regions, 
their  energy  and  prominence  made  th<'ir  name  an  equiva- 
lent for  the  inhabitants  of  the  country  generally. 


to  be  notod  that  the  eiders  and  citizen«  of  Gibeon  decide  tlie 
course  tukoii,  nor  is  any  kmj^  of  Gjbeon  irifntioned  in  the  list  ol 
cities  and  kings  in  Josh.  xii.  9-24.  Every  form  of  government 
ee  in;   to  have  hud  its  representative  among  the  Cjinaauito  tribes. 

'  SchK.der,  in  J2/t'/uH,  art.  Ganaaniter.     /S*  o  p  JJl-'J. 

a  Tbe  d^^^^eof  the  foniding  of  Old  Tyre  was  given  by  the  priesti, 


m  B.f..  2/6i.» 


Ma-sp-v /a  Hist.  Anc,  p.  192. 


PALESTINE   AND   EGYPT   IN    ABRAHAM'S    DAY. 


355 


The  Philistines,  who  held  the  rich  plain  from  the  foot 
of  the  hills  of  Judea  to  the  sea  after  haviiij^  driven  out 
the  peaceful  Avites,  were  a  people  allied  to  the  Phenicians. 
They  seem  to  have  been  a  branch  of  the  primitive  race 
which  had  once  spread  itself  over  the  whole  district  oi 
Lebanon  and  !^  the-  Jordan  valley,  and  had  in  part 
launched  off  to  Crete  and  other  Mediterranean  islands. 
From  thence  some  returned,  it  is  not  known  when,  to 
the  southern  coast  of  Palestine,  and  there  founded  the 
future  kint^'dom  of  the  Philistines.  Their  history  shows 
them  to  have  been  at  once  warlike  and  given  to  com- 
merce, for  they  were  the  first  who  checked  the  career  of 
Hebrew  conquest  in  the  days  of  Josliua.  But  if  in  this 
they  were  very  different  from  the  unwarlike  Phenicians, 
they  resembled  them  in  concentro-ting  their  strength  in 
cities  on  the  sea  coast,  which  they  not  only  fortified,  but 
made  the  seats  of  a  v/ide  transmarine  commerce.  Thus, 
Askalon  had  a  g  reat  trade  with  Cyprus,  and  boasted  of 
the  richest  and  eldest  temple  of  Venus,  the  goddess  of 
that  island,  in  anr  foreign  territory.  Indeed,  the  wealth 
and  power  of  thf  Philistine  cities  imp.y  a  trade  which 
must  have  almost  rivalled  that  of  Tyre  and  Sidon,  and 
may  perhaps  have  been  largely  due  to  Canaanite  settlers 
from  the  north.  It  is  likely  that  the  A  tes  "\\  horn  they 
subdued,  continued  to  till  the  fields  for  ^  ir  new  masters 
as  they  had  before  for  themselves  ;  u  we  know  that 
the  remnants  of  some  of  the  conquereci  Canaanite  tribes, 
the  Refaim  among  others,  found  a  honi  m  their  territory 
and  helped  them  in  their   wars.  his  the  Philistines 

proper  may  well  have  devoted  themselves,  as  it  seems 
they  did,  especially  to  military  powei-  and  enterprise ; 
while  the  country  grew  rich  and  strou<;  by  the  co-opera- 
tion of  other  races  in  more  profitable  directions.^ 

*  Tho  Philistines  to  the  last  wero  cspeciai'j-  warlike,  for  David 


ill 


aK«-««iA<W«un«WK| 


356 


PALESTINE   AND   EGYPT   IN   ABRAHAM'S   DAT. 


Among  tliese  various  races,  scattered  in  small  communis 
ties  over  the  land,  Abraham  at  the  head  of  a  tribe, 
numbering  in  all,  periiaps,  several  thousands,  pitched  his 
tents,  on  entering  Canaan.  His  immense  flocks  must 
have  had  ample  room  for  pasture  without  invading  the 
rights  of  his  neighbours,  else  one  so  peaceful  and  just 
would  have  chosen  other  camping  grounds.  But,  in 
those  days,  even  two  such  powerful  sheiks  as  himself  and 
Lot,  could  set  up  their  tents  in  a  spot  so  central  and 
attractive  as  the  plain  of  Shechem,  without  encroaching 
on  any  one.  There,  under  the  grateful  shade  of  the  Oak 
of  Moreh,^  in  the  midst  of  a  wide  valley,  green  with  grass, 
grey  with  olives,  dotted  with  gardens,  and  musical  with 
rushing  sprii^gs;  between  Mount  Ebal  on  one  side. 
Mount  Gerizim  on  the  other,  and  the  sloping  heights 
which  rise  to  form  the  watershed  of  Central  Palestine  on 
the  west,^  he  remained  till  fresh  pastures  were  needed. 
Then,  leaving  the  simple  Jiltar  he  had  built  to  Jehovah, 
as  a  sacred  remembrance  of  his  stay,  he  and  his  people 
moved  southwards  and  pitched  their  tents  on  the  uplands 
between  Bethel  on  the  west,  and  Hai,  "the  ruin  heap/' 
on  the  east,  marking  the  temporary  encampment  as  usual 
b  r  another  rude  altar,  as  a  local  sanctuary. 

A  failure  of  the  rains,  ere  long,  however,  forced  the 
patriarch  to  remove  once  more ;  this  time,  for  a  short 

had  a  body  gnard  from  among  them.  The  Cherethites  and  the 
Pelethites  of  2  Sam.  xx.  7  are  regarded  gonerally  as  having  been 
Philistines,  though  the  Targum  translates  the  words  "archers 
and  slingers." 

'  In  Dent.  xi.  30,  we  read  of  "the oaks  ofMoreh."  The  meaning 
of  the  word  Moreh,  is  variously  given,  as  "  the  Teacher  "  (Schcii- 
kel's  Bib.  Lex),  "  Arrow  Flight,"  "  Early  Rain,"  "  Fruitful."  Muh- 
lau  and  Volck's  //,  W.  B.  It  was  very  likely  the  name  of  the 
owner  of  tlio  ground,  as  in  the  case  of'Marare,  at  Hebron. 

^  Smai  and  Palestine,  p.  296,     The  Land  and  The  Book,  p.  470. 


PALESTINE   AND    EGYi^   IN    ABRAHAM  S   DAY. 


357 


just 


ff 


period,  to  Egypt;  the  drought  having  caused  a  dt'Jiith 
in  Palestine,  while  the  valley  of  the  Nile,  watered  by 
the  unfailing  bounty  of  the  great  river,  then,  as  in  after 
ages,  attracted  the  neighbouring  peoples  in  such  timea 
of  scarcity.  ^ 

Different  Semitic  tribes,  allied  to  the  Hebrews— 
apparently  driven  from  their  former  homes  in  Chaldea 
and  Northern  Syria, — had  long  pressed  towards  Egypt 
evon  in  prosperous  years,  and  were  gradually  filling  the 
Delta  to  such  an  extent  as  threatened  political  danger. 
To  check  their  entrance  in  still  greater  numbers,  which 
was  almost  as  much  dreaded  as  that  of  the  northern 
hordes  into  the  Roman  empire  in  later  ages,  an  Egyp- 
tian king  of  an  earlier  date  than  Abraham  had  built  a 
strongly  fortified  wall  across  the  isthmus  of  Suez  ;  the 
prototype  of  such  walls  as  th</se  of  Severus  in  our  own 
country,  or  of  that  of  Prob'is,  along  the  border  of  the 
European  provinces  of  R(>me  »>t?ll,  the  migration 
continued,  though  peacefully;  f^r  the  PJgyptians  needed 
shepherds,  and  admitted  thtm  for  their  own  advan- 
tage; but  in  the  end  the  evil  anticipated  was  realized, 
apparently  after  Abraham's  time,  in  the  subversion  of 
the  native  dynasty  by  *'  Shepherd  Kings ''  of  the  hated 
Amu  race;  the  name  for  shepherds  on  the  monuments. 

The  town  of  Zoan,  in  the  Delta,  then  known  to  tho 
Egyptians  by  the    same   name  as    Tyre,   was    already  a 

*  So  Herod  brought  vast  stores  of  wheat  from  Kgypt  for  the 
relief  of  the  Jews,  in  the  years  B.C.  23  and  24.  Jos.,  Ant,  xv.  9,  2. 
Under  Augustus,  the  wheat  tax  on  Egypt  tor  the  (vants  of  Kome, 
was  3,0<jO,000  bushels  a  year.  Friedlan<ier,  Sittengesch.  Foms,  vol. 
i.  p.  30.  Mr.  Finn,  in  Sunday  at  Home  (IS72),  p.  327,  says  that  in 
1870,  tho  IMiilijitine  country  was  almost  depopulated,  the  crops 
having  failed,  and  the  inhabitants  having  gone  to  Egypt  for  food. 
Egypt,  on  the  other  hand,  has  at  times  drawn  supplies  from 
Palestine,  when  tho  Nile  has  failed  to  rise. 


'  :    f  •;.»* 


858 


1>ALE8TINE   AND   EQYFT    IN   ADBAHAM'S   DAT. 


witness  to  this  tide  of  Asiatic  immigration,  for  it  had 
been  built  by  Semitic  settlers,  as  shown  by  the  worship 
followed  in  it,  seven  years  before  Hebron  in  southern 
Canaan, 

Passing  across  the  uplands  of  the  south  country  of 
Canaan,  and  through  tho  district  of  Hebron,  Abraham 
would  thus  find  little  difficulty  in  entering  a  laud  to 
which  so  many  of  kiudred  blood  had  precodod  him. 

It  is  thought  by  some,  indeed,  that  when  he  visited 
Egypt  the  great  revolution  had  already  taken  place, 
which  drove  the  native  Pharaoh  as  a  fugitive  to  tho 
distant  south,  and  seated  a  Shepherd  King,  of  tho  line 
known  to  the  Egyptians  as  the  Hyksos,^  in  his  place. 
But  it  is  much  more  probable  that  the  last  kings  of  the 
twelfth  dynasty,  one  of  tho  greatest  in  Egyptian  histor^^ 
werv  still  mgning.*  -^ 

In  either  case,  when  be  passed  the  well  guarded 
frontier  wall,  a  new  and  strange  world  would  be  around 
him.  The  vast  pyramids  were  already  ancient,  for  at 
least  eight  dynasties  had  passed  away  since  the  first  had 
been  built.  Populous  colonies  of  Semitic  peoples  had 
brougl  t  the  north  of  the  Delta  into  high  cultivation,  and 
filled  ii  with  busy  commerce,  while  to  the  south  of  them, 
the  whole  valley  of  the  Nile  had  been  united  under  one 
sceptre ;  the  risings  of  the  Nile  brought  into  strict  con- 
trol j  avast  reservoir  of  tho  superfluous  waters  of  each 
year's  inundation  provided  in  the  huge  artificial  lake 
Moeris,  and  the  country  covered  with  towns,  cities  and 


^  The  word  Hyksos  is  the  name  of  hatred  given  by  the  Egyp- 
tians  to  these  kinps.  It  moans  "  robber  chiefs."  Ebers'  JEgyytcii^ 
ill  liiohm.     Josepiius,  0.  A'p.,  i.  14,  makes  it  =  "  shepherd  kings." 

2  See  Canon  Cook,  Speaker's  Comment.^  vol.  i.  Excursus  on 
Egypty  etc.  Ebers'  ^'jypten  and  die  Biicher  Mose's,  p.  256,  places 
the  arrival  of  ^ibrahiim  bclore  the  time  of  the  Hyksos. 


PALESTINE    AND    KJYPT    IN    AliUAlIAM  8    DAY. 


359 


villngoB,  tho  former  adorned  by  great  temples  and 
palaces,  of  whii'U  tho  ruins  still  excite  ^vonder.  A  rielily 
cultivated  lu'id  would  ere  long  open  on  all  sieles.  TheUj 
as  now,  the  creaking  of  the  great  water-whi'els,  turned 
by  oxen,  would  proclaim  tho  source  of  tho  universal 
fertility,  as  they  poured  far  and  wide  over  tho  fields, 
through  innumerable  rivulets  and  wider  channels,  the  I'fo- 
giving  stream  of  tho  Nile.  Oxen  dragging  tho  plough 
or  treading  tho  corn,  as  the  labourers  sang  at  their 
work  ;  ^  huge  herds  of  cattle,  or  tlocks  of  sheep  ;  fragrant 
gartlens,  and  rich  orchards  and  vineyards,  would  vary 
tho  delightful  picture  with  each  hour's  advance. 

Nor  would  other  equally  pleasant  details  be  wanting. 
Tho  horse  was  as  yet  unknown,^  but  numerous  and  often 
beautiful  asses  served  in  its  stead  for  all  peaceful  uses. 
The  people,  now  of  mingled  blood,  but  originally  of 
Asiatic  origin, — a  branch  in  fact  of  the  same  Cushites  as 
founded  the  Babylonian  kingdom, — were  a  quiet  and 
happy  race,  though  the  lordly  nobles  and  priests  looked 
on  the  poorer  classes  with  unconcealed  distlain.  Amidst 
all,  however,  the  land,  as  a  whole,  rejoiced.  Hospitality 
abounded,  and  if  there  were  toil  by  day,  the  evening 
was  cheered  by  the  song  and  tho  dance  j  to  tho  sound 
of  the  pipe  and  the  harp.  Tho  usual  dress  was  linen, 
coloured  for  the  people  at  largo,  but  pure  white  for  the 
priests ;   that  worn   by  the  riche .   ladies  being  often  toe 

*  Wilkinson's  Ancient  Egy pt Ian 8 y\'o\.  ii.  p.  43. 

^  This  itself  seems  a  proof  that  Abraliam'a  visit  was  before  tlie 
time  of  the  Hyksos,  who  introduced  the  horse  to  Egypt.  Wo 
find  it  there  in  Joseph's  time  and  later  (Gen.  xlvii.  17,  18.  Exod. 
ix.  3.  Deiu,.  xvii.  10).  It  was  not  introdrcod  among  the  Hebrews 
till  the  rt'ign  of  Solomon.  Strabo  (xvi,  781),  says  that  tho  Naba- 
tliaians,  even  in  his  day,  had  no  hoises,  and  to  the  present  I imo 
some  tribes  of  Bedouins  have  never  had  any.  llobiuson'a  Fales' 
tinef  vol.  i.  p.  343. 


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fino  and  trans parout  for 
modesty.  The  sportsmaa 
had  his  dogs,  to  hunt  the 
crocodile  or  the  hippo- 
potamus ;  the  fowler  his 
trained  cats,  to  take  birds 
in  the  reeds,  on  the  edges 
of  the  canals  and  of  the 
Nile  J  over  whose  waters 
glided  the  light  skiff,  the 
heavy  raft  laden  v  ,h 
huge  stones  for  public 
buildings  or  with  pro- 
duce, and  the  stately 
barge  of  nobles  or  of  the 
palace. 

That  Abrahaua  should 
have  appeared  before 
Pharaoh  has  been 
thought  by  some  critics 
improbable,  but,  strange 
to  say,  a  written  copy 
has  been  recovered  of  a 
formal  royal  permission 
to  a  shepherd  tribe  to 
settle  in  the  northern 
Delta;  granted  by  Me- 
nephthah,  the  Pharaoh 
of  the  Exodus.  From  it 
we  learn  that  foreigners 
we^'e  always  brought  be- 
fore the  king  on  their 
arrival;  to  receive  liberty 
to  stay  in  the  country, 


PALKSTINK    AND    EGYPT   IN    AFUiAIIAM*a    DAY. 


361 


irange 
copy 
of  a 


or  to  bo  sont  back.  In 
the  rock  tombs  hown 
out  of  tbo  stoop  bill  on 
tbo  east  side  of  the  Nile, 
half  way  between  Mem- 
phis and  Thebes,  at  tho 
village  of  Beni  Hassan, 
"the  sons  of  Hassan," 
— an  ancient  Arab  tribe 
long  settled  on  the  spot, 
— we  have,  moreover,  a 
striking  picture  of  the 
reception,  by  a  great 
dignitary,  of  the  repre- 
sentatives of  a  Semitic 
tribe  exactly  like  Abra- 
ham's people,  and  that  iu 
tho  patriarch's  own  day ; 
for  tho  painting  dates 
from  his  time. 

Tho  Amu,^  or  Semitic 
foreigners  thus  brought 
before  us,  are  nomades, 
like  tho  Hebrews,  and 
have  with  them  not  oidy 
their  wives  and  children, 
but  their  beasts  and 
household  effects,  and 
even  their  arms ;  a  sure 
proof  of  their  political 
independence. 

The  details  of  tho  pic- 
ture   may     help    us    to 
»  Ebers,  p.  256. 


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PALESTINE   AND  EOTFT  IN  ABRAHAM'S  DAT. 


realize  the  cii  cumstances  of  the  appearance  of  Abraham 
before  Pharaoh.  A  court  scribe  ushers  in  the  Amu  chief, 
who  wears  a  sack-like  coat,  reaching  to  the  knees,  in  red, 
white  and  blue,  elaborately  bordered  and  fringed ;  with 
ornaments,  in  stripes  and  spots,  throughout.  He  and  hia 
immediate  attendant  have  removed  their  sandals,  but  the 
rest  retain  them.  The  chief  leads  an  ibex,  as  a  gift, 
bowing  with  outstretched  hands  as  he  presents  it,  and 
the  next  figure  holds  an  antelope  by  a  collar  and  by 
its  horn.  A  third  person  follows,  wearing  only  a  kilt. 
Next  come  four  men  in  long  closed  blouses  suiting  a 
hot  climate;  two  of  them  white;  two  red,  white,  and 
blue,  in  fancy  patterns.  All  the  four  carry  their  arms — a 
spear  and  bow,  with  what  may  be  a  weapon  of  bent  wood, 
like  an  Australian  boomerang,  for  throwing;  or  possibly, 
the  crooked  stick  still  used  by  Arabs  in  driving  their 
camels.^  An  ass  follows,  with  panniers;  partly  laden, 
it  would  seem,  with  bright  coloured  cloth,  for  which 
Canaan  was  famous;  but  also  showing  the  heads  of  two 
children  nestled  in  them.  Four  women  without  any 
veils,  succeed,  wearing  the  tight-fitting  shirt  which  is 
still  the  single  garment  of  Arab  girls ;  the  one  side  kept 
up  by  a  shoulder  strap,  but  the  arms  and  the  other 
shoulder  bare.  Their  feet  are  set  off  by  red  ancle  boots, 
edged  on  the  top  with  white.  All  the  figures  seem  bare- 
headed, but  all  have  abundant  hair;  that  of  the  women 
being  bound  round  the  crown  by  a  fillet,  A  boy  holding 
a  spear  and  wearing  a  short  sack  goes  before  them,  and 
a  second  ass,  bearing  a  spear  and  what  seems  a  shield, 
follows  behind;  the  picture  closing  with  two  men,  of 
whom  the  foremost  plays  on  a  large  stringed  instrument 
held  out  in  front  of  him,  and  the  other  bears  a  bow  and 

^  Similar  throw-sticks  are  still  in  use   among  the  Bescharu 
Arabs  of  Sinai.    Bonomi,  Nineveh,  p.  136.     But  see  p.  368. 


PALESTINE   AND   fiOTFT   IN  ABRAHAM'S  DAY. 


3G3 


quiver,  and  a  club;  their  only  clothing,  apparently  a 
tasselled  fancy  patterned  kilt,  reaching  from  the  waist  to 
the  knees.^  "  I  view  them,''  says  Lepsius,  "  as  a  migratin<» 
Hyksos  family,  who  pray  to  be  received  into  the  blessed 
land,  and  whose  descendants,  perhaps,  opened  the  gatea 
to  the  Semitic  conquerors,  allied  to  them  by  race.'" 

That  Pharaoh  should  have  been  attracted  by  the  beauty 
of  Sarah,  and  should  have  taken  her  at  once  into  his  harem, 
as  narrated  in  Genesis,  is  a  striking  illustration  of  the 
exact  keeping  of  the  incident  with  historical  truth.  The 
court  officials  of  the  princes  of  the  Nile  valley  seem  to 
have  been  specially  zealous  in  their  efforts  to  secure 
beautiful  women  for  their  master.  In  the  D'Orbiiiey 
Papyrus,  there  is  an  account  of  a  faithlv^ss  beauty  whose 
sweet  smelling  locks  are  found  in  the  room  of  the 
Pharaoh,  and  shown  by  the  slaves  to  his  wise  men  and 
scribes.  They  bring  them  forthwith  to  their  master  as 
*'the  locks  of  a  daughter  of  the  god  Ra  Harmachu," 
adding,  "  The  blood  of  that  god  is  in  her '"  on  which  the 
Pharaoh*  does  not  rest  till  he  has,  with  great  difficulty, 
secured  her;  after  which  he  makes  her  his  favourite.* 
We  find,  moreover,  in  a  papyrus  preserved  at  Berlin,  a 
story  still  more  strikingly  resembling  this  incident  in  the 
life  of  Abraham.  A  workman  has  had  his  ass  seized 
by  an  inspector,  and  reclaims  it  before  the  head  officer, 

*  See  plate  in  Brugsch's  Egypt,  and  in  Ebers.  The  picture  on 
the  wall  of  the  tomb  is  8  feet  long,  and  1^  feet  high.  Ebers' 
^gypten,  pp.  257-8.     Speaher^s  Commentary,  vol.  i.  pp.  446-6. 

'  Letters  from  Egypty  English  trans,  p.  112. 

■  Pharaoh  is  not  a  proper  namot  but  a  title,  like  "  the  Czar,"  or 
rather  like  that  of  the  Sultan—*'  The  Sublime  Porte  "—that,  is, 
the  "  Lofty  Gate."  It  means,  literally,  *"  The  Great  House,  or,  as 
we  say,  *'  palace,"  anU  is  used  on  the  monuments  as  equivalent! 
to  "  His  Majesty."    Ebers,  p.  264. 

*  Papyrus  D*Orbiney,  ix. 


s.., 


«   : 


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I 


864 


PALESTINE  AND   EQYFT  IN  ABRAHAM'S   DAT. 


Meruitens,  who  in  the  end  refers  the  matter  to  the  king, 
a  Pharaoh  of  the  eleventh  dynasty,  and  thus  before  the 
patriarch's  time.  After  questioning  the  appellant,  the 
king  says,  "  He  does  not  answer  anything  said  to  him. 
Let  a  written  report  be  made  to  us :  we  comprehend  the 
matter.  Meanwhile  his  wife  and  children  are  the  king's. 
Watch  secretly  over  him  and  supply  him  with  food." 
The  wife  and  children  become  royal  property,  and  the 
officers  of  the  court  undertake  the  maintenance  of  the 
husband,  as  was  the  case  of  Abraham.^ 

The  gifts  of  Pharaoh  to  Abraham  in  honour  of  Sarah 
bear  the  same  mark  of  intimate  knowledge  of  the 
Egyptian  world.  They  included,  we  are.  told,  "sheep 
and  oxen,  and  he  asses  and  men  slaves,  and  women  slaves, 
and  she  asses,  and  camels.^'  *  That  the  horse  should 
not  be  mentioned  is  striking,  for  no  figure  or  mention 
of  it  appears  on  the  monuments  ot  the  Old  Kingdom 
of  Egypt,  and  it  seems,  as  already  noticed,  to  have 
been  first  introduced  by  the  Hyksos,'  whom  Abraham, 
therefore,  would  seem  to  have  preceded.  On  the  monu- 
ments of  their  age  it  is  represented  constantly.  Long- 
eared  sheep  are  seen  as  early  as  the  monuments  of  the 
twelfth  dynasty — that  under  which,  in  all  probability,  the 
patriarch  visited  Egypt.  In  a  tomb  beside  the  Great 
Pyramid,  there  is  a  painting  and  inscription  stating 
that  the  dead  man  owned  no  fewer  than  2,235  common 
sheep  and  goats,  and  973  of  a  finer  kind,  in  all  3,208.* 
Cattle  have  always  been  raised  in  great  numbers   in 


*  Lea  Papyrus  hieratiques  de  Berlin^  F.  Chabas,  pp.  14, 15. 

*  Gen.  xii.  16.    The  words  "he  had,"  should  be  translated, 
**  he  had  given  him." 

»  Mers,  p.  222.     See  p.  359. 

*  Ebers,  p.  266.    Vigouroux,  vol.  i.  p.  402.    Lepsius,  Denkmaler 
%A.bth.  ii.  T.  iii.  Blatt  ix.  106, 132. 


PALESTINE   AND   EOYPT   IN  ABRAHAM  S   DAT. 


865 


Egypt ;  for  their  bones  have  been  dug  up  from  a  great 
depth  in  the  Delta,*  and  the  monuments  show  that  from 
the  earliest  times  they  have  been  employed  in  the  same 
way  as  at  present.  In  an  inscription  of  the  twelfth 
dynasty,  a  functionary  called  Ameni  boasts  that  he  had 
collected  in  the  nome  of  Sahou,  of  which  he  was  prefect, 
a  herd  of  3,000  bulls  with  their  heifers.  The  ox  was  the 
animal  most  commonly  used  for  drawing  the  plough,  and 
dairy  produce  played  a  great  part  in  the  food  of  the 
Egyptians  and  in  their  religious  ceremonies.  Diodorns 
relates  that  in  his  time  360  bowls  were  daily  filled  with 
milk  as  offerings,  by  the  priests  who  celebrated  the 
mysteries  of  Osiris.^  Under  the  New  Empire  there  were 
officials  who  had  the  inspection  of  the  bulls  and  heifers  of 
the  domain  of  the  god  Ammon.  The  scribe  Anna,  whose 
tomb  has  been  discovered  at  Qurnah,  had  the  office — his 
epitaph  tells  us — of  selling  the  dairy .  produce  of  that 
domain.* 

The  presence  of  numerous  asses  in  Egypt  is  proved  by 
the  paintings  of  Beni  Hassan,  and  by  the  still  older 
tombs  near  the  pyramids,  on  which  whole  herds  of  asses 
meet  us.  Rich  men  boast  in  their  epitaphs  of  having 
had  them  by  thousands.  In  later  ages,  indeed,  the  god 
Set,  to  whom  the  ass  was  sacred,  was  viewed  as  "  the  evil 
one,"  and  his  special  beast  consequently  became  "an 
abomination  to  the  Egyptians : ''  but  even  after  it  had 
come  to  be  hated,  it  was  still  much  used  for  riding  and 
burdens,  though  also  sacrificed  to  Set  by  being  thrown 
from  the  top  of  a  rock.     In  the  Egypt  of  Abraham's 

*  Lyell's  Antiquity  of  Man,  p.  41. 

'  Birch,  A  Bemarkable  Papyrus  of  the  Twelfth  Dynasty.  Ohabas, 
Les  Papyrus  hieratiques  de  Berlin,  p.  47.  Lepsius,  Beukmdler 
Abth.  ii.  T.  ill.  Blatt  ix.  75. 

'  Gbabas,  Etudes,  p.  296.  .  , 


1-1 


366 


PALESTINE  AND   EQTFT  IN  ABRAHAM'S   DAT. 


day,  however,  it  waa  an  object  of  respect,  as  it  still  is 
in  Africa,  where,  as  Sir  S.  Baker  tells  us,  it  would  be 
taken  as  a  xjompliment  rather  than  the  reverse  to  be 
told  that  one  "  was  an  ass," — so  sprightly,  intelligent 
and  noble  a  creature  is  it  in  these  regions. 

The  gift  of  camels  to  Abraham  was  long  thought  by 
hostile  critics  a  proof  of  the  late  composition  of  this  part 
of  Genesis ;  but  research  has  abundantly  shown  that  the 
animal  was  known  from  the  earliest  ages  in  Egypt.  It 
is  noty  indeed,  represented  on  the  monuments,  but  this 
must  have  risen  from  some  of  the  numerous  laws  which 
restricted  artists  of  those  days  to  certain  figures,  drawn 
by  fixed  rules.  Cocks  and  hens,  which  abounded  on  the 
Nile  from,  the  earliest  times,  and  were  even  oflfered  in 
sacrifice  to  the  god  Anubis,^  are  thus,  in  the  same  way, 
never  found  on  any  monument  or  in  any  painting.* 

On  his  recovery  of  Sarah,  Abraham  was  no  longer  per- 
mitted to  remain  in  Egypt,  but  was  conducted  to  the 
frontier  wall,  out  of  the  country,  by  an  Egyptian  guard.* 
His  stay  in  Egypt,  however,  while  little  flattering  to  his 
nobler  traits,  had  added  to  his  already  great  wealth,  for 
he  left  it,  with  Lot,  "  very  rich  in  cattle  and  in  silver  and 
gold.*'  These  metals  were  well  known  to  the  Egyptians 
of  his  day,  but  were  as  yet  scarce  in  Palestine.*  Tho 
silver  mines  of  Egypt,  in  the  Eastern  desert,^  enriched  the 
country  with  both  silver  and  gold,  as  did  also  the  tributes 
from    Ethiopia,    Central    Africa,   and    other   countries. 

*  White  and  yellow  fowls  were  thus  offered.    laia  et  Oa.^  p.  61. 

3  The  bones  of  dromedaries  have  been  found  in  the  deepest 
borings  of  the  Nile  mud.  Ebers  believes  the  camel  to  have  been 
in  use  among  the  early  Fhenician  colonists  of  the  Delta  coast.. 
It  is  not  an  African  animal,  and  must  have  been  brought  to  the 
Delta  from  Asia. 

»  Gen.  xii.  20. 

*  Chabas,  Etudes,  p.  109.  •  Wilkinson,  vol.  ii.  p.  240. 


PALESTINE   AND  EQTFT   IN    ABRAHAMS   DAT. 


367 


Tho  use  of  silver  even  before  Abraham  is  proved  by  the 
crown  of  a  king  of  tho  eleventh  dynasty,  now  preserved 
at  Ley  den.      It  is  of  gold  and  silver,   the  broad  band 
being  of  both  metals,  the  nobler  one  concealing  the  les3 
precious.     In  the  time  of  the  twelfth  dynasty  gold  was 
wrought   into  very   fine   ornaments,  as   is  seen   in   the 
pictures  of  the  Beni  Hassan  tombs.     Amenemha  I.  had 
a  palace  which  was  richly  gilded  throughout ;  with  arches 
of  lapis  lazuli,  and  walls  crusted  with  precious  stones  and 
bronze.     Towards  the  close  of  the  Ancient  Empire  coffins 
were   entirely   gilded.     Dr.  Birch  has  shown  that  gold 
washing  was  followed  in  Nubia  under  Amenemha's  reign.^ 
The  turquoise  and  copper  mines  of  the  Sinai  peninsula 
are  as  old  as  the  pyramids,  and  in  the  earliest  dynasty 
we  already  meet  official  "  overseers  of  the  gold  treasury." 
At  a  later  date,  indeed,  in  the  reign   of  Rameses  III., 
about    1200  B.c.,^  there  is   a  picture  in  the  temple  of 
Medinet  Habu  which  shows  the  wealth  of  the  Pharaohs 
as  having  become   enormous.     The  treasury  dazzles  us 
with  the  display  of  gold  and  silver,  in  sacks,  jars,  or 
heaps,  while  commoner  metals  lie  around  in  great  masses 
like   building  stones.^     If  to  this   we  add  the  golden 
chariots,  chairs,  and   footstools,  the   golden   doors   and 
pillars,  the  vessels  of  gold,  and  the  universal  gilding  of 
chambers,  in  the  palaces  of  the  Pharaohs  of  the  New 
Kingdom,  the  royal  wealth  must  abundantly  have  justi- 
fied the  words  of  one  of  the  Pharaohs  to  a  servant  he 
wished  to  honour,  that  *'  he  should  wear  gold  round  his 
neck,  on  his  back,  and  on  his  feet,  for  having  faithfully 
obeyed  in  all  things."  *         ■  . 

The  two  tribes  of  Abraham  and  Lot  having  no  longer 

"^  On  a  Historical  Tablet  of  Rameses  11.    Archceol.  p.  376. 

•  Brugschf  vol.  ii.  p.  140.  ^  Dumichen,  Hist.  Inech.f  1867. 

*  Lepsius,  Benhmdler,  T.  iii.  97. 


If 


\ 


868 


PALESTINE   AND   BaTPT   IN   ABRAHAM'S   DAT. 


permission  to  remain  in  Egypt,  wandered  back  by  slow 
marches  towards  Canaan,  over  the  uplands  of  the  Negeb 
or  South  Country,  which  was  then  much  more  fertile  than 
now,^  to  their  old  encampment  between  Bethel  and  Hal. 
The  removal  of  an  Arab  camp,  to  new  pasture  grounds, 
must  present  much  the  same  scone  in  all  ages,  and  hence 
that  of  a  tribe  which  Layard  ^  saw  on  the  march  must 
help  us  to  realize  the  old  world  picture  of  the  daily  stages 
of  Abraham  and  Lot.  *'  We  found  ourselves  in  the 
midst  of  wide  spreading  flocks  of  sheep  and  camels.  As 
far  as  the  eye  could  reach,  to  the  right,  to  the  left,  and 
in  front,  still  the  same  moving  crowd.  Long  lines  of 
asses  and  bullocks,  laden  with  black  tents,  huge  cauldrons 
and  variegated  carpets  ;  aged  women,  and  men  no  longer 
able  to  walk,  tied  on  the  heap  of  domestic  furniture ; 
infants  crammed  into  saddle  bags,  their  tiny  heads  thrust 
through  the  narrow  opening, — balanced  on  the  animal's 
back  by  kids  or  lambs  tied  on  the  opposite  side ;  young 
girls  clothed  only  in  the  close-fitting  Arab  shirt,  which 
displayed  rather  than  concealed  their  graceful  forms ; 
mothers  with  their  children  on  their  shoulders;  boys 
driving  flocks  of  lambs;  horsemen  armed  with  their 
long  tufted  spears,  scouring  the  plains  on  their  fleet 
mares;  riders  urging  their  dromedaries  with  their  short 
hooked  sticks,*  and  leading  their  high-bred  steeds  by  the 
halter;  colts  galloping  amongst  the  throng;  highborn 
ladies  seated  in  the  centre  of  huge  wings,  which  extend 
like  those  of  a  butterfly  from  each  side  of  the  camel's 
hump,  and  are  no  less  gaudy  and  variegated.  Such  was 
the  motley  crowd  through  which  we  had  to  wend  our 
way  for  several  hours."  Omit  the  horses  and  you  have 
a  picture  of  the  journeys  of  Abraham. 

*  Palmer,  On  the  Desert  El  Tih,  Palestine  Fund  Reports,  1870. 

*  Layard's  Nineveh,  vol.  i.  p.  60.  *  See  p.  362. 


CHAPTER   XXII. 
Abraham's  second  residence  in  canaan. 

ENCAMPING  by  the  rude  altar,  which  he  had 
erected  when  formerly  near  Bethel,  with  Lot's  tents 
not  far  from  his  own,  Abraham  soon  found  that  increased 
wealth  brought  increased  troubles.  Disputes  respecting 
the  use  of  wells  is  a  constant  difficulty  when  more  than 
one  Bedouin  encampment  has  to  water  its  flocks  from 
the  same  sources,  and  such  strifes  rose  between  the 
herdsmen  of  the  two  patriarchs.  Moreover,  the  pasturage 
was  insufficient  for  the  sheep  and  cattle  of  both;  and 
in  short,  it  was  advisable  that  uncle  and  nephew  should 
part.^  Nor  could  a  finer  illustration  of  the  lofty  and 
unselfish  character  of  Abraham  have  been  shown  than 
that  which  marked  his  proposal  that  this  should  be  the 
case.  Though  the  whole  country  had  been  given  him  by 
God  Himself,  he  waived  his  rights.  "  Let  there,''  says 
he,  "  be  no  strife,  I  pray  thee,  between  me  and  thee,  ar.d 

*  "When  in  1863,  the  Beni  Sakk'r  tribe,  which  is  under  two 
sheiks,  encamped  in  the  Ghor,  lust  before  their  raid  on  the 
plain  of  Esdraelon,  their  tents,  like  those  of  the  Midianites, 
covered  the  ground  for  miles,  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach  from 
Mount  Beisan,  and  in  a  week  there  was  not  a  green  blade  to  be 
seen,  where,  before  the  arrival  of  these  locusts,  one  stood  knee 
deep  in  the  rank  herbage.    Tristram's  Land  of  Israel,  p.  493. 

B  B 


870        Abraham's  second  residenob  in  canaan. 

between  my  herdsmen  and  thy  herdsmen;  for  we  be 
brethren.  Is  not  the  whole  land  before  thee  ?  Separate 
thyself,  I  pray  thee,  from  me  j  if  thou  wilt  take  the  left 
hand,  then  I  will  go  to  the  right,  or  if  thou  depart  to  the 
right  hand,  then  I  will  go  to  the  left." 

The  features  of  the  locality  enable  us  to  fix  the  very 
spot  where  this  notable  example  of  following  the  things 
that  make  for  peace  was  uttered.  Abraham  had  appa- 
rently built  his  altar  on  the  summit  of  the  "  mountain 
east  of  Bethel/'  where  he  and  Lot  then  stood,  with  all  the 
land  spread  out  like  a  map  at  their  feet.  The  country 
around  is  now  only  a  succession  of  brown  and  rounded 
limestone  rocks,  rising  into  bare  hills,  without  a  tree  to 
cover  tl:  3m ;  but  it  may  then  have  presented  lovely  park- 
like glades,  as  in  Gilead,  with  open  pasturage,  shaded 
by  well  wooded  slopes,  stretching  into  the  blue  distance;' 
"northward,  southward,  eastward,  and  westward,"  in 
varied  beauty.  But  the  richest  spot  in  the  landscape, 
the  circle  of  the  Jordan,  lay  eastward,  as  it  were  at  their 
feet;  where  the  deep  cleft  of  the  river  opened  into  a 
broad  valley,  before  its  waters  finally  lost  themselves  in 
what  is  now  called  the  Dead  Sea.  If  Sodom  and  Go- 
morrah lay  in  this  northern  part,  they  must  have  risen 
from  amidst  its  rich  verdure ;  the  traces  of  which  still 
remain,  and  at  once  attract  the  eye  of  any  one  looking 
down  from  the  hills  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Bethel.  The 
abundant  waters,  which  still  gush  from  the  high  western 
plateau,  even  now  support  a  mass  of  vegetation  before 
they  are  lost  in  the  light  loamy  soil.  But  utilized  as  they 
then  were  by  irrigation,  far  and  wide,  they  must  have  made 
every  part  of  it,  as  seen  by  Abraham  and  Lot,  a  very 
garden  of  Jehovah — recalling  the  traditions  of  their  own 
Eastern  Paradise,  or  the  glorious  beauty  of  the  scene 

*  Tristram's  Land  ofleraelt  p.  169. 


ABRAHAM  8    SECOND   RESIDENCE   IN    CANAAN. 


371 


I 


fchey  liad  .econtly  loft  behind  thorn  at  Zoan,*  in  E;^ypt 
— where  the  bountiful  Nile,  led  everywliei'o  tliroui^h  tho 
thirsty  soil,  repaid  tho  care  by  a  fertility  and  luxuriance 
that  had  passed  into  a  proverb. 

Nor  was  natural  beauty  all.  The  Jordan  cities  lay  on  the 
great  route  of  Eastern  travel,  and  promised  to  the  keen 
eye  of  Lot  a  rich  market  for  tho  produce  of  his  flocks 
and  herds,  as  well  as  the  luxuries  and  refinements  of 
wealth.  More  worldly  minded  than  Abraham,  he  chose 
this  seductive  region,  forgetful  that  outward  advantage 
may  be  bought  too  dear,  if  it  involved  injury,  moral 
or  spiritual.  Choosing  the  rich  valley,  and  with  it  the 
corrupt  civilization  which  had  developed  itself  fearfully 
amidst  the  temptations  and  influence  of  an  Indian  climate ; 
he  turned  his  face  to  the  deep  descent  where  this  paradise 
lay  spread  out,  some  thirteen  hundred  feet  below  the  level 
of  the  Mediterranean ;  and,  nomade  like,  pitched  his  tent 
outside  the  gates  of  Sodom.  Abraham,  on  the  other 
hand,  forthwith  received  a  new  gift  of  the  whole  country 
from  God,  as  if  to  mark  how  much  higher  in  His  sight  is 
the  gentle  spirit  that  trusts  to  Him  rather  than  to  selfish 
plans  of  its  own,  like  that  of  Lot. 

But  Hebron,  not  Bethel,  was  to  be  the  chief  resting- 
place  of  Abraham.  It  offered,  on  the  wide  open  country 
round,  free  pasture  j  better  suited  for  his  flocks  and  herds, 
and  more  abundant.  There,  under  the  oaks  of  Mamre, 
with  their  grateful  shadow  from  the  noon-day  heat,  he 
once  more  pitched  his  tent,  and  near  it,  as  was  always 
his  custom,  built  a  third  altar  to  Jehovah.  The  precise 
spot  may  perhaps  be  marked  by  the  ruins  of  an  ancient 
enclosure  mentioned  in  Josephus,  which  still  remains  to 


I 


'%^ 


.«« 


I  -i  i  ■ 


6      !  « 
» 1 


7>  5l> 


II  .' 


}'• 


*  Zoar  in  the  English  version  is  undoubtedly  a  misreading  for 
Zoan,  which  is  retained  in  the  Syriac.  Zoan  was  especially  rich 
in  irrigation. 


- 


372 


Abraham's  second  rksidence  in  canaan. 


tho  north  of  Hebron.  "There/'  says  the  Jewish  his« 
torinn/  "  stood  tho  terebinth  beneath  which  the  patriarch 
received  angels ;  "  a  tree  as  old,  it  is  thought,  as  the  world. 
It  is  said  to  haVo  been  burned  down  so  recently  as  the 
seventeenth  century,  after  having  been  an  object  o£ 
almost  idolatrous  honour  for  untold  ages.' 

Here,  at  last,  he  could  rest,  almost  at  home  in  this  up- 
land vale,  with  its  mingled  town  and  country  life,  its  wells, 
and  its  clumps  of  terebinths ;  amidst  the  cool  and  delight- 
ful climate  of  an  elevation  of  nearly  three  thousand  feet 
above  the  sea.*  If  Lot  had  the  tropical  luxuriance  of 
Sodom,  Abraham  had  the  refreshing  breeze  of  the  hills, 
whose  soft  slopes  were  sprinkled  with  stretches  of  grey 
olives,  and  picturesquely  mingled  groves  of  pomegranates, 
figs,  apricots,  and  almonds ;  while  round  him  spread 
waving  patches  of  wheat  and  barley,  varied  by  green 
gardens,  and  vineyards  so  famous,  that  the  Jews  believed 
the  vine  had  been  first  planted  by  God's  own  hand  on 
these  fertile  slopes.  His  flocks,  moreover,  had  only  to 
wander  to  the  next  heights,  beyond  this  quiet  retreat,  to 
have  before  them  unlimited  upland  pastures. 

A  strange  disturbance  of  this  pleasant  region  soon, 
however,  broke  its  peacefulness  for  a  time.  The  various 
kingdoms  of  the  valley  of  the  Euphrates  and  Tigris  had 
long  been  the  scene  of  stirring  events.  Great  military 
conquerors  had  risen,  one  after  another,  since  the  time  of 
Nimrod ;  until,  in  Abraham's  day,  a  great  empire  under 
the  kings  of  Elam — the  mountainous  district  on  the  eastern 
side  of  the  lower  Tigris  and  Euphrates — stretched  thenco 
to  the  shore  of  the  Mediterranean ;  a  distance  of  nearly  a 


*  Bell.  Jud.,  iv.  7,  9. 

'  Sinai  and  Palestine,  p.  142. 

•  Hebron.     Schenkel's  Bih.  Lex. 


ffeilige  Land,  vol.  i.  p.  694. 


Sopp*s  Jerusalem  und  daa 


^w« 


ABRAHAM'S    SECOND   RIHIDRNCB    IN    CANAAN. 


378 


thousand  miles,  in  a  Htraijafht  lino,  and  of  much  more 
by  the  northorn  route  which  alouo  was  praoticablo  for 
armies.  Chedorlaorner,  or,  as  his  naino  is  j^ivun  in  tho 
Septuapfint,  Kodorlogomor,  tho  rcignin<jf  king,  belonged 
to  a  dynasty  which,  by  a  strange  good  fortune,  has  per- 
petuated its  memory  even  to  our  times  in  the  old  Assyrian 
inscriptions.  In  these  there  is  frequent  mention  of  a 
great  conquering  line  of  kings  of  Elam,  the  house  of  the 
Kudurs,^  each  of  whom  appended  to  i^his  common  title 
some  personal  affix ;  that  of  the  king  mentioned  in  Genesis 
being  the  name  of  the  god  Lagomer,  a  famous  divinity 
of  Elam.  Still  more  strangely,  an  inscription  of  the 
Assyrian  king  Assurbanipal,  who  reigned  b.o.  667,*  nar- 
rating his  conquest  of  Elam  and  its  capital,  Susa — the 
Shushan  of  Esther — tells  us  that  he  then  carried  off  an 
image  of  the  goddess  Nana,  which  had  been  taken  from 
Babylon  1,635  years  before,  by  an  Elamite  king,  Kudur- 
nanhundi,  who  had  "  laid  hands  on  the  temples  of  Accad," 
or  Babylonia.^  This  successful  invasion  of  Babylon  must 
therefore  have  happened  about  B.C.  2300,  a  period  earlier 
than  Abraham's  time,  and  strongly  confirms  the  narrative 
of  Genesis  in  reference  to  an  Elamite  empire.  Still  more, 
inscriptions  have  been  found  on  bricks  at  Mugheir,  the 
ancient  Ur,  of  a  Kudurmabuk,  of  Elam,  whose  empire 
extended  over  South  Chaldea,  and  also  over  the  "  West- 
land,'' — that  is,  according  to  the  usage  of  the  inscriptions, 
over  Canaan, — his  dominions  consequently  reaching  from 
Susiana  to  the  Mediterranean.*     Thus  the  invasion  of 


^  Kudur—in  Assyrian  to  "service,"  "adoration."  Western 
Asiatic  Inscriptions,  vol.  ii.  p.  65.  It  seems  a  Finnish  word. 
The  Ostiac-Samoyed  equivalent  is  Kote — Koto = servant. 

^  Maspero,  p.  436.     Schrader  makes  the  date  B.C.  650. 

•  Smith's  History  of  Assurbanipal  (1871),  p.  250. 

*  Schrader,  KeiUnschrt/ten,  p.  48. 


/ 


I 


i 


■if 


ft 


fm\ 


6 

Ii! 


■v1>i»'f^ 


374        Abraham's  second  besidbnce  in  canaan. 

Chedorlaoraer  is  virtually  established  as  a  historical  facfc, 
altogether  apart  from  the  testimony  of  Scripture.  In  its 
glory  his  rule  stretched  a  thousand  miles  from  east  to 
west,  and  five  hundred  from  north  to  south.^ 

Under  this  over-lord  were  various  lesser  kings,  of  whom 
we  know  little.  Amraphel,  "the  son  reigns,"*  king  of 
Sinear  or  Shinar,  the  ancient  Babylon;  Arioch,  "the 
servant  of  the  Moon,"^  king  of  Ellasar,  an  unknown 
Mesopotamian  town  or  district* — perhaps  Larsam,  the 
modern  Senkereh,  on  the  east  of  the  Euphrates,  between 
Erech  and  Ur.^  Of  this  town  and  district,  the  inscrip- 
tions reveal  the  name  of  an  ancient  king  Eriaku,  or 
Urukh,  perhaps  this  Arioch,  or  some  ancestor,  but  it  may 
be  the  famous  "  king  of  Sumir  and  Accad,"  ^  lord  of  Ur, 
renowned  as  the  great  builder  of  cities,  temples,  and 
fortresses.  A  third  completes  the  list.  "  Tidal,''  or 
rather  as  the  Greek  has  it,  "Thargal,"  the  great  chief 
of  "  the  Goim,"  •  apparently  the  "  Guti," — the  Semitic 
tribes  of  Northern  Mesopotamia,  part  of  whom  afterwards 
became  the  Assyrian^  nation.  An  invasion  of  Canaan 
by  Chedorlaomer  fourteen  years  before  had  subdued  the 
country  to  him  and  made  it  tributary,  but  after  twelve 

•  The  EgypHan  monuments,  in  exact  accordance  with  Genesis, 
Btate  that  before  the  conquest  of  Canaan  by  the  Hebrews,  and  till 

'the  kings  of  the  eighteenth  Pharaonic  dynasty,  the  ruling  power 
in  Western  Asia  was  that  of  the  Butennu  the  peoples  inhabiting 
Assyria.  Under  Rameses  II.,  the  Pharaoh  of  the  Oppression, 
they  no  longer,  however,  held  Canaan.  The  power  had  passed  to 
the  Khetas,  or  Hittites.  Chabas,  Voyage  cTun  Egyptien,  pp. 
818-322. 
2  Schrader.  •  Lenormant. 

•  Schrader,  Biehm,  p.  819. 

•  Lenormant,  La  Langue  Primitive,  p.  378. 

•  See  p.  297.  '  Rawlinson,  Herod.,  i.  364. 

•  Goim  =  (in  Heb.)  Gentiles.  ,  «\        ' 

•  Lenormant,  La  Langue  Primitive,  p.  376. 


.1  1 


ABRAHAM'S   SECOND   BESIDENCE   IN   CANAAN. 


375 


years  subjection  a  general  revolt  had  followed,  the  pay- 
ment of  the  tribute  had  been  refused,  and  it  may  be  the 
commercial  interests  of  the  populations  on  the  Euphrates 
threatened ;  the  line  of  travel  on  which  they  depended 
running  from  the  great  river,  through  the  revolted  dis- 
tricts, to  the  gulf  of  Akaba.*  In  all  probability  Abraham 
was  still  in  Harran  when  the  first  invading  army  marched 
northwards,  on  its  way  to  the  west,  and  would  thus 
know  all  it  implied  when  he  now  heard  at  Hebron  that 
the  Elamite  king,  with  his  vassals,  had  a  second  time 
marched  into  Palestine,  to  reduce  the  refractory  chiefs 
once  more  to  obedience. 

Crossing  the  Khabour,  perhaps  at  Arban;  the  Belik 
near  Harran,  and  the  Euphrates  at  Carchemish,  the 
invaders  would  pass  south,  by  Hamath  in  the  Lebanon, 
and  Damascus,  to  the  territory  of  the  rebels.^  Sweeping 
on,  along  the  east  of  the  Jordan,  to  cut  oflf  the  allies  of 
the  revolted  kings,  their  first  blow  fell  on  the  gigantic 
Eefaim  in  their  chief  town — Ashteroth  Karnaim — the 
sanctuary  of  Astarte,  the  goddess  of  the  crested  moon. 
The  Zuzim,  of  Ham,  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  D'Bad 
Sea,^  apparently  the  same  as  the  Zamzummim ;  and  the 
terrible  Emim,*  at  Shaveh  Kiriathaim — the  upland  dis- 

'  Tuch,  in  Zeitschrift  des  Beutschen  Morgenl.  Oesell.  (1847),  p.  161. 

■  Tomkins'  Studies  on  the  Times  of  Abraham.  An  admirable 
resume  of  all  that  is  known  on  the  period,  from  the  Assyrian  and 
Egyptian  records.    The  illustrations  are  prepared  with  great  care. 

*  There  is  still  a  Hameitat  about  six  miles  east  of  the  lower 
part  of  the  Dead  Sea.  The  name  is  read  Hemta  in  the  Targums, 
BO  that  the  identity  of  the  place  seems  established.  Tristram's 
Land  ofMoah,  p.  117. 

*  The  name  Emim  means  "  the  terrible  race."  They  held  what 
was  afterwards  Moab. 

The  Zamzummim  seem  to  have  owed  their  name  to  an  imitation 
of  what  was  regarded  as  their  barbarous  and  unintelligible  dialect. 


f  tm 


s 


i 


ijj 


876 


ABRAHAM'S   SECOND   RESIDENCE   TV  CANAAN. 


trict  of  "  the  Twin  Towns/'  somewhere  near,  were  next 
attacked.  Pressing  still  south,  beyond  the  Dead  Sea, 
by  the  valley  now  known  as  El  Arabah,  the  miserable 
Horites,  the  "  Cave  men  "  ^  of  tlie  rough  mountain  range 
of  Seir^  presently  felt  the  terrors  of  war.  Marching 
thence,  through  a  wild  and  broken  country,  the  con- 
querors turned  their  faces  to  the  west  till  they  reached 
the  "  Oak  of  Paran,*'  *  on  the  edge  of  the  wilderness  of 
that  name;  now  the  desert  of  El  Tih,  on  the  far  south- 

They  held  at  least  part  of  the  country  known  as  that  of  the 
Ammonites^  on  the  east  of  Jordan.  Their  name  comes  from  a 
verb,  to  **  hum,  to  murmur,  to  make  a  noise."  Fiirst,  however, 
thinks  it  means  "  the  strong." 

*  That  cave  men  lived  then  in  Palestine  seems  to  me  to  cnst 
doubt  on  the  assumption  of  a  necessarily  immense  antiquity  for 
the  cave  men  of  Europe.  Strabo  gives  a  curious  account  of  this 
race,  which  was  found  as  far  west  as  Mauretania,  and  as  far  east 
as  the  Caucasus,  but  especially  in  Idumea  and  the  coasts  of 
Abyssinia.  The  women,  he  tells  us,  painted  themselves  with  an- 
timony; the  men  went  about  naked,  or  in  skins  of  cattle,  and 
carried  clubs,  spears,  and  shields.  The  wives  were  in  common, 
except  those  of  the  chiefs,  for  the  race  had  chiefs.  All  wore 
shells  round  their  necks  as  a  protection  against  witchcraft. 
Their  food  consisted  not  only  of  flesh,  but  of  the  bones  and  skin 
of  beasts  pounded  up  with  it.  Some  were  circumcised,  like  the 
Egyptians.  But  their  treatment  of  the  dead  was  at  once  the 
strangest  and  most  revolting  of  their  peculiarities,  for  they  tied 
the  corpse  neck  and  heels  together  with  twigs,  and  then  pelted  it 
with  stones  amidst  shouts  and  laughter,  till  they  had  covered  it 
up,  when  they  laid  a  ram's  horn  on  the  cairn  and  went  off.  Their 
drink  is  said,  by  Strabo,  to  have  been  the  mixed  blood  and 
milk  of  their  cattle.  Surely  this  state  of  degradation  in  historical 
periods  makes  any  need  of  an  immense  antiquity  to  account  for 
it  in  Britain  and  elsewhere,  unnecessary. 

Bertheau,  QescMchte  der  Israeliten  has  an  elaborate  essay  on 
the  Horites,  pp.  147  ff. 

*  Seir,  means  "rough,"  "rugged." 

*  Paran=»the  hollowed  out. 


i  ) 


'V  I 


ABRAHAM'S  SECOND  RESIDENCE   IN   CANAAN. 


377 


V' 


west  of  Palestine.     The  countless  wadys  or  dry  water- 
courses hollowed  out  of  the  limestone  uplands  of  that 
region,  and  giving  it  its  name,  were  then,  however,  far 
richer  in  fertility  and  population  than  now ;  for  nothing  is 
more  ^ertain  than  that  the  destructio    of  trees,  and  the 
long  neglect  of  irrigation,  has  since  those  ages  changed  the 
extreme  south  of  Palestine  into  a  literal  wilderness,  where 
before  there  were  vineyards,  and  a  settled  population.^ 
Turning  now  once  more  to  the  east,  having  reached  the 
limits  of  their  march,  the  victorious  allies  came  to  En- 
Mishpat,  "  the  spring  of  judgment,"  called  also  Kadesh, 
"The  Sanctuary;''   apparently  the  seat  of  an   ancient 
oracle,  and  also  the  chief  encampment  of  the  Amalekites, 
whose  whole  country  they  wasted  with  fire  and  sword. 
Next  came  the  turn  of  the  Amorites,  whose  chief  seat 
was  then  at  Hazezon  Tamar,   "the   groves  of  palms," 
afterwards  Engedi,  "  the  fountain  of  the  kid ; "  a  small 
oasis  on  the  western  edge  of  the  Dead  Sea,  1,300  feet  be- 
low the  high  plateau  of  Southern  Judea,  over  which  the 
invaders  had  marched  to  reach  it.      And  now  the  enemy 
had  at  last  almost  entered  the  rich  circle  of  the  Jordan, 
and  had  only  to  strike  north  to  reach  its  wealthy  cities 
and  towns  : — Sodom,   "  the    walled  "  ;    Gomorrah,   the 
town  in  "  the  cleft " ;  '  Admah,  "  the  strong  place  "  ; ' 
Zeboiim, "  the  town  of  the  gazelles  " ;  perhaps  in  flattery 
of  its  maidens ;   and  Zoar,  "  the  small."     There  was  no 
chancti   of  escape  nor  any   hope    of  again,   in   Tyrian 
fashion,  buying  peace  by  renewed  tribute.     The  popula- 
tion must  meet  their  invaders  and  fight  for  their  hearths 
and  lives.     Each  town  had  its  king:  Bera,  "the  gift  of 
God ;  "  Birsha,  "  the  strong  "  ;  Shinab,  "  the  glorious  " ; 
Shemeber,  "  the  proud,"  ^  and  under  them  their  people, 

>  Pahner'a  The  Desert  of  the  Tih.    Palestine  Fund  Report8,1870, 
*  Fur^»  ■  These  are  the  meanings  given  by  Fiirtit. 


'I 

I't 

■■'V'l 


i! 


tilt 


^ 


:    <  J 


^ 


S78 


Abraham's  second  residence  in  canaan. 


came  out  to  battle  on  the  broad  plain  at  the  head  of  the 
Dead  Sea,  ^  but  only  to  be  utterly  overthrown.  The 
ground  was  full  of  bitumen  pits,  that  may  well  have 
broken  their  ranks.  Bera  and  Birsha  were  killed,  and 
the  scattered  remnant  of  the  force,  with  the  whole  popula- 
tion that  could,  fled  to  the  eastern  hills,  while  the  victors 
sacked  the  towns  and  carried  off  much  plunder  and  many 
prisoners ;  among  whom  were  Lot  and  his  family.  Pain- 
fully remounting  the  1,300  feet  of  cliff  on  the  west  of  the 
valley,  at  the  gorge  of  Engedi,  or  passing  up  the  line 
of  the  Jordan  on  its  eastern  side,  the  conquerors  had  now 
only  to  march  home  in  triumph,  laden  with  spoil  and  rich 
in  captives.  But  meanwhile  the  news  of  his  nephew's 
misfortunes  had  reached  Abraham  at  Hebron.  As  the 
head  of  a  great  tribe,  he  was  on  a  footing  of  equality  with 
the  kings  around,  and,  though  a  man  of  peace,  he  had  all 
the  fire  of  the  Arab  when  the  occasion  demanded.  This, 
the  fate  of  his  kinsman  instantly  roused.  Calling  to  his 
help  Mamre,  "the  manly,''  Eshcol,  "the  brave," ^  and 
Aner,  "  the  branch,"  Amorite  chiefs  with  whom  he  lived 
on  terms  of  friendship,  they  joined  their  contingents  to 
his  levy  of  three  hundred  aid  eighteen  trained  guards  of 
his  own  encampment ;  and  the  whole,  numbering  likely 
over  a  thousand  men,  started  instantly  in  pursuit  of  the 
retiring  foe,  who  had  reached  Laish,  afterwards  known 
as  Dan,  on  the  east  side  of  the  Jordan,  some  thirty  miles 
north  of  the  Sea  of  Galilee,  before  they  were  overtaken. 
With  keen  military  instinct  Abraham  had  determined  on 
a  night  surprise ;  trusting,  no  doubt,  to  the  carelessness 
of  an  Eastern  army,  which  takes  little  precaution  against 

^  Yale  of  Siddimo  Valley  of  the  Broad  Plains,  lying  then,  as 
now,  north  of  the  Dead  Sea. 

>  So  Hitzig,  "all  the  man'*;  Dillmann  prefers  *'the  grape 
cluster." 


• 


Abraham's  second  residence  in  canaan. 


379 


such  attacks.^  No  news  had  reached  Chedorlaomer  of 
the  pursuit,  and  his  men  lay,  some  asleep  and  some 
drunk,  says  Josephus,^  when  Abraham — dividing  hjs 
force  into  sections  acting  from  different  points,  like  those 
of  Gideon's  band,  centuries  later,  in  a  nearly  similar  case ; 
or  the  Chaldeans  in  their  attack  in  "  three  bands  "  •  on 
the  camels  of  Job — rushed  on  the  great  camp,  causing  an 
instant  panic  which  soon  became  a  complete  rout.  Nor 
did  Abraham  give  them  time  to  rally,  but  pressing  on, 
chased  the  fleeing  hordes  towards  the  range  of  Anti- 
Libanus,  for  two  days,  as  far  as  Hobah,  north  *  of  Damas- 
cus, till  they  were  utterly  scattered.^  Lot  and  his  family, 
with  the  other  captives,  were  thus  recovered,  with  all  the 
plunder  taken  on  their  great  raid  by  the  invaders. 

Returning  slowly  southwards,  rich  with  the  plunder 
of  the  camp,  and  with  a  long  train  of  rescued  Canaanite 
prisoners  of  war,  Abraham  was  met  by  two  princes 
of  the  country,  at  some  spot  known  as  the  King's 
Vale ;  perhaps  among  the  uplands  of  Ephraim,*  whither 
the  march  must  have  led  as  it  passed  on  through 
Shechem,  towards  Hebron.  The  one  was  the  new  king 
of  Sodom,  who  came,  doubtless,  to  do  homage  to  his 
deliverer  as  the  great  man  of  the  day,  for  Abraham's 
victory  had  raised  him  above  any  of  the  local  chiefs.  He 
had  acted  only  from  friendship  to  Lot,  but  by  the  laws  of 

*  Even  at  this  day  the  Bedouins  have  no  sentinels  nor  out- 
posts.   Burckhardt's  Notes  on  the  Bedouins,  vol.  i.  p.  303. 

a  Ant.,  i.  10,  1. 

■  1  Sam.  xi.  11.    Job  i.  17. 

*  The  English  version  says  "on  the  left  hand  of  Damascus," 
but  the  left  in  Hebrew  means  the  north,  for  position  was  reckoned 
among  the  Hebrews  with  the  Bj)eaker  facing  the  east.  Thus,  in 
Job  xxiii.  9,  **  left "  and  "  right "  mean  north  and  south.    See  p.  242. 

*  See  a  vivid  picture  of  this  rout  in  Land  and  TJis  Booky  p.  215. 

*  Dillma/nn,  p.  253. 


Ul 


'I 
ml 


(„ 


880 


Abraham's  second  residence  in  canaan. 


war  the  whole  booty  was  his ;  though  he  might  have 
beeD  expected  to  restore  the  captives  recovered  to  their 
owners  or  homes,  instead  of  retaining  them  as  his 
personal  slaves.  Such  an  arrangement  the  king  of 
Sodom  now  pressed  on  him.^  But  he  misunderstood 
the  magnanimous  nature  with  which  he  had  to  do,  for 
Abraham  had  undertaken  his  great  task  with  no  ulterior 
thoughts  of  gain.  "  I  have  lifted  up  my  hand,"  and 
Bwom  "unto  Jehovah,"  said  he,  "the  most  high  God, 
the  f ramer  ^  of  heaven  and  earth,  that  I  will  not  take  so 
much  as  a  thread  or  the  thong  of  a  sandal,'  lest  thou 
ehouldst  say,  'I  have  made  Abraham  rich ':  save  only  that 
which  the  force  have  eaten,  and  the  share  of  the  men 
who  went  with  me,  Aner,  Eshcol,  and  Mamre;  let  them 
take  what  is  theirs."  Abraham  would  have  nothing  to 
do  with  Sodom  except  to  render  it  a  service. 

But  the  chief  personage  who  thus  came  out  to  welcome 
the  victorious  patriarch  was  one  round  whom  legend  has 
delighted  to  gather.  Melchizedek,  the  king  of  righteous- 
ness,* ruler  of  Salem,  "priest  of  the  Most  ^igh  God," 
who  appears  in  this  incident  for  a  moment  and  then 


!, 


*  If  any  one  recovered  from  an  enemy  the  goods  of  a  friend, 
tbey  were  the  property  of  the  conqueror — a  hard  enough  law, 
which  Abraham  was  above  enforcing  for  himself,  though  he  st<  od 
on  its  letter  as  regarded  his  confederates.  Michaelis,  Mosaischea 
Becht,  vol.  iii.  p.  252. 

*  Not  "  possessor,"  as  the  English  version  has  it. 

■  De  Wette's  translation.  Eoberts  says  it  is  still  a  Hindoo  say- 
ing for  having  taken  nothing,  that  one  has  not  taken  oven  a  piece 
of  the  thong  of  a  worn-out  sandal.  It  is  also  an  Arab  proverb. 
Ges.,  Thes.  p.  452. 

*  Or  "justice,"  as  Kalisch  translates  it.  It  is  curious  to  notice 
that  in  Joshua's  time  the  king  of  Jerusalem  bore  the  name  of 
Adonizedek,  "  the  lord  of  righteousness,"  Is  this  a  ground  for 
believing  that  Salem  must  have  been  Jerusalem  P 


^ 


^■r 


Abraham's  second  restdbncb  in  canaan. 


381 


suddenly  vanishes,  has  in  all  ages,  alike  from  his  narao, 
which  itself  commands  respectful  awe ;  his  office  and 
faith  at  such  a  time,  and  in  such  populations ;  and  the 
silence  observed  respecting  his  origin  or  history,  been 
a  favourite  subject  for  speculation.  We  know  neither 
his  parentage,  nor  the  place  of  his  birth,  nor  his  suc- 
cessor in  his  office  and  dignities,  and  hence  he  offers  a 
Btriking  type  of  our  divine  Lord.^  It  is  quite  possible 
that,  like  Abraham,  he  may  have  been  one  of  the  early 
Pilgrim  Fathers  who  had  left  Chaldea,  to  escape  the 
growing  bitterness  and  intensity  of  idol  worship,  which 
were  making  fidelity  to  the  faith  of  purer  ages  impossible.* 
His  name  and  that  of  the  place  over  which  he  ruled,  are 
purely  Semitic,  and  may  thus  point  to  his  belonging  to 
the  clans  of  that  race  beyond  the  Euphrates.'  But  this 
seems  a  questionable  ground,  since  the  Phenicians,  and 
at  least  some  of  the  Canaanite  tribes,  spoke  a  language 
almost,  if  not  quite  identical  with  Hebrew,  while  the 
tribes  beyond  the  Euphrates  spoke  Aramaic.  Indeed, 
Abraham's  ability  to  mingle  freely  with  the  peoples 
around  him,  seems  to  imply  that  on  entering  Canaan  he 
abandoned  his  native  speech  and  adopted  theirs,  making 
Hebrew  for  the  first  time  the  speech  of  his  race.* 

Melchizedek's  pure  and  holy  faith  in  the  "  Most  High 

*  The  Jews,  over  fond  of  the  marvellous,  affected  to  regard 
Melchizedek  as  a  son  of  Shem — a  reUc  of  the  long  perished  golden 
age  of  the  world. 

*  Chap.  vii. 

*  So,  Kalisch. 

*  Bansen,  Bibel  UrJeunden,  vol.  i.  p.  102.  Eichhom*s,  Einleitung 
vol.  i.  p.  69 ;  ii.  p.  1.  Kalisch's  Bible  Studies,  vol.  ii.  p.  3.  It 
is  curious  to  notice  that  after  having  adopted  the  Hebrew  of  the 
Ganaanitos  from  Abraham's  day,  the  Jews  went  back  to  their 
original  Aramaic,  and  gave  up  Hebrew,  as  soon  as  they  were 
carried  off  to  Babylon,  Abraham's  early  land. 


m 


4 


882 


Abraham's  bboond  besidenob  in  oanaan. 


God "  was  doubtless  a  rolio  of  the  anciently  universal 
recognition  of  the  One  Creator,  and  is  one  of  the  proofs 
incidentally  afforded  in  such  other  cases  as  that  of 
Abimelech,  king  of  Gerar;  Jethro,  the  Midianite; 
Balaam,  from  the  mountains  of  Assyria;  and  Job,  the 
Arab ;  that  God  has  at  no  time  left  Himself  without  a 
witness  even  in  lands  secluded  from  the  direct  privileges 
of  His  people.  El  Eli5n,  the  name  given  by  Melchizedek 
to  God,  was  not  indeed  new  or  unknown,  for  El  or  H, 
'*  the  Mighty  One,"  was  the  ancient  supreme  god  of  the 
Semitic  races  of  Babylonia,  and  was  known  in  Palestine 
by  the  Phenicians  j  and  even  the  great  title,  Elion,  *'  the 
Highest,''  had  been  adopted  by  them,  corrupt  and 
idolatrous  as  they  had  already  become.  With  them,  in- 
deed, both  naihes  only  marked  one  divine  Being  among 
many,  though  perhaps  the  highest ;  nor  is  it  to  be  over- 
looked that  while  Melchizedek  uses  the  general  expres- 
sion "  the  Most  High  God,"  Abraham,  in  repeating  it, 
prefixes  the  personal  name  Jehovah;^  as  if  to  claim  for 
Him  the  exclusive  right  to  supreme  divinity.  Vfith  this 
weighty  addition,  though  not  without  it,  he  recognises 
the  God  of  Melchizedek  as  Him  whom  he,  himself,  wor- 
shipped.^ 
But  not  only  is  Melchizedek  a  king,  he  is  also  the  first 

>  Gen.  xiv.  22.  Cohen,  Baratellung  des  GottesdiensteSf  p.  21, 
notices  this. 

3  Most  critics  are  of  opinion  that  Salem  was  Jemsalem ;  but 
it  has  been  fancied  by  some  that  a  place  eight  miles  south  of 
Scythopolis,  where  John  the  Baptist  laboured,  is  intended. 
Jerome  tells  us  that,  in  his  day,  the  so-called  palace  of  Melchize- 
dek was  still  shown  there.  Abraham  had  certainly  to  pass  by 
Soythopolis  on  his  return,  and  hence  Salem  may  have  been  the 
seat  oE  Melchizedek's  rule.  Winer  gives  striking  reasons  for 
preferring  Jerusalem.  Gesenius  thinks  Salem,  not  Jerusalem, 
was  the  place.    Thee.,  xiv.  22. 


' 


Abraham's  second  besidencb  in  canaan. 


883 


m- 


who  bears  the  ancient  and  sacred,  but  often  much 
abused  name  of  "  Priest.**  The  office  had  not  yet  been 
separated  from  that  of  king,  and,  indeed,  in  after  ages  it 
was  still  nominally  applied  to  the  sons  of  David,*  and 
even  to  humbler  personages  in  the  court  of  Solomon;^ 
but  in  these  cases  tradition  seems  to  have  retained  a 
title  which  though  once  real  in  similar  connections,  was 
now  simply* one  of  dignity.  From  Melchizedeck,  Abra- 
ham accepts  a  priestly  blessing.  The  highest  earthly 
one  in  the  land,  bowing  before  a  still  higher  spiritual, 
and  recognising  in  him  the  servant  of  God,  expresses  his 
gratitude  for  the  signal  mercies  just  vouchsafed  him,  b 
giving  to  God,  as  represented  by  His  *4H|L  th 
tithes  of  which  we  read — "  the  tenth  4[|^BI 
spoil'' — an  act  which  became  an  authoritat^^h 
precedent  among  his  descendants  ever  after. 
Jacob,  at  Bethel  remembered  it,^  and  Moses  put  it  m 
practice  as  a  public  law,  that  the  tenth  of  the  field,  the 
orchard  and  the  herd*  should  be  given  to  the  priests,  as 
to  God ;  besides  a  tribute  from  all  booty  of  war.*^ 

Ten  years  had  passed  since  Abraham  had  entered 
Canaan,  and  he  was  still  without  an  heir,  when  Sarah, 
acting  on  the  custom  still  common  in  the  East,  gave  one 
of  her  female  slaves  to  her  husband  as  a  concubine,  or 
wife  of  secondary  rank ;  with  the  design  of  adopting  as 
her  own  the  children  of  the  union.*     From  among  the 

*  2  Sam.  viii.  18.  The  word  ** priest"  is  supposed  from  the 
phraseology  of  the  parallel  passage,  1  Chron.  xviii.  17,  to  mean 
here  '*  the  firsh  at  the  king's  hand,"  thaf-  is,  in  rank. 

*  1  Kings  iv.  5.    "Principal  officer"  is  literally  a  ** priest." 
'  Gen.  xxviii.  22. 

*  Lev.  xxvii.  30  AT. 

*  Num.  xxxi.  31.    2  Sam.  viii.  11.    Chron.  xxvi.  27. 

*  Jacob's  wives  did  the  same,  Gen.  xxx.  1  ff.  The  old  law  of 
Israel  (Ex.  xxi.  ff)  even  gave  the  Hebrew  maiden  sold  by  her 


^i 


II 


884 


ABRAHAM'S   SECOND   BBSIDENCI   IN   CANAAN. 


slaves  brought  from  Egypt,  perhaps  given  by  Pharaoh, 
one  Hagar  was  selected  for  this  honour ;  but  the  result,  as 
too  often  happens  in  polygamous  countries,  was  unhappy 
Even  before  a  child  jwras  born,  jealousy  sprang  up  in  the 
mistress  towards  the  maid,  who  fled  to  the  desert  to 
escape  Sarah's  anger,  and  only  returned  when  divinely 
warned  to  do  so.  But  the  son  whom  she  pres^ptly  bor|p^ 
Ishmael,  "  God  hears  " — was  after  a  time  followed  by 
a  son  b^rne  by  Sarah  herself,  who,  of  course,  at  once 
took  the  placa  of  the  son  of  the  concubine,  as  Abra- 

'Bo^ie   fifteen    years   had   passed,   during 

iherited  lad  had  been  the  acknow- 

his  father's  rank  and  wealth ;  and  it 

lor  him  or  his  mother  to  sink  at  once 

pee,  and  resign  the  distinction  they  had  so 
joyed.  Heart-burnings  naturally  followed,  and  in 
th%  end,  Sarah  would  not  be  contented  till  both  mother 
arid  lad  were  sent  away  from  the  encampment,  to  join 
soine  other  tribe,  and  return  to  Abraham  no  more.  To  us 
it  seems  strange  that  the  mother  of  his  first-born  son 
should  be  thus  treated ;  but  it  has  always  been  the  rule 
in  the  East  that  the  elevation  of  a  femtle  slave  to  be  a 
secondary  wife  or  concubine,  in  no  degree  affects  her 
servile  position;  and  leaves  her  children  slaves  to  her 
owner,  like  herself  liable  to  be  sold  away  or  sent  ofE  at 
a  moment's  notice,  though  this  is  seldom  done.  ^  In  this 
case,  moreover,  Hagar  was  Sarah's  property,  and  would 
be  treated  by  her  as  such.  Yet  it  was  no  slight  task 
to  bring  Abraham  to  carry  out  her  will,  nor  would  she 
apparently  have  gained  her  point,  had  not  the  patriarch 
•been  divinely  warned  that  what  seemed  to  be  only  harsh 

father  on  account  of  his  poverty,  a  claim  on  her  purchaser,  to  be 
made  either  his  own  concubine  or  that  of  his  son. 
1  Michaelis,  Moaaisches  Eechtt  vol.  ii.  pp.  125,  352, 


\ 


ADUAHAM  8    SECOND    RESIDENCE    IN    CANAAN. 


385 


L  son 

rule 

be  a 

i  her 

►  her 

bfE  at 

this 

rould 

task 

she 

Larch 

larsh 

to  be 


jealousy,  was  in  reality .  in  accordance  with  an  all-wise 
Providence.  Even  then,  however,  he  rose  up  early 
in  the  morning,  as  if  fearful  that  his  obedience  to  the 
heavenly  counsel  might  fail  if  he  delayed ;  and,  doubtless 
with  a  heavy  heart,  sent  mother  and  son  away.  Wean- 
ing feasts  are  still  usual  in  the  East,  and  that  of  Isnao 
had  been  the  occasion  of  this  final  rupture.*  It  led  to 
Ishmael  becoming  the  father  of  the  wide  family  of 
Bedouin  tribes,  afterwards  known  as  Ishmaelites;  who 
ultimately  spread  over  the  desert,  from  the  eastern  edge 
of  Egypt  to  the  north-west  coasts  of  the  Persian  Gulf, 
and  also  over  the  Hauran,  east  of  the  Jordan,  to  Lebanon, 
—that  is,  as  a  whole,  over  all  Northern  Arabia.'* 

The  disastrous  end  of  the  cities  of  the  plain  had 
happened  before  this  breach  in  the  patriarch's  circle. 
The  agencies  by  which  it  was  brought  about,  and  the 
situation  of  the  doomed  towns,  have  been  equally  dis- 
puted. It  is  certain,  hoVever,  that  the  present  Dead 
Sea  is  of  immensely  greater  age  than  the  time  of  Abra- 
ham, for  it  belongs  geologically  to  the  oldest  seas  in  the 
world;  its  origin  reaching  back  to  the  period  of  the 
Secondary  Rocks,  when  a  great  part  of  Southern  Germany 
and  Switzerland  was  as  yet  below  the  ocean.  Its  level 
stood  formerly  much  higher  than  now,  for  ancient  beaches 

*  Isaac  may  have  been  three  or  four  years  old  at  his  weaning, 
if  not  older.  The  child  Samuel  must  have  been  some  size  when, 
on  his  being  weaned,  bis  mother  took  him  to  Shiloh  and  left 
him  there  (1  Sam.  i.  24).  If  Isaac  was  older,  weaning  must  have 
had  a  different  meaning  than  it  has  with  us.  The  Mahometan  law 
prohibits  a  woman  weaning  her  child  before  it  is  two  years 
old,  except  with  the  consent  of  her  husband.  The  mother,  in 
2  Mace.  vii.  27,  says  she  has  suckled  her  son  three  years.  In 
India  a  child  is  weaned  only  after  three  years.  See  Winer,  art. 
Kinder. 

'  iWe/jm,  art.  Ismael. 

VOL.    I.  C  0 


mi 


886 


Abraham's  second  residknce  m  canaan. 


are  still  to  be  soon  on  the  rocks  three  hundred  feet  abovo 
its  present  surface.  Whether  it  evor  joined  the  Red 
Sea  is  disputed :  some  think  it  did ;  others  adduce  in 
disproof,  the  facts  that  tho  waters  of  the  Arabah,  op 
gorge  south  of  tho  Dead  Sea,  flow  into  it  from  a  water- 
shed almost  midway  between  the  two  seas,  and  that  the 
Gulf  of  Akaba  on  tho  Rod  Sea,  is  thirty-five  feet  higher 
than  the  Mediterranean,  while  the  Dead  Sea  is  thirteen 
hundred  feet  below  it.  ^  It  seems  most  probable  that 
the  whole  Jordan  valley,  from  Lebanon  to  the  Red 
Sea,  was  once  a  branch  of  the  Indian  Ocean,  which  has 
been  drained  and  cut  oif  by  the  subsequent  elevation  of 
the  country. 

The  Dead  Sea  is,  in  fact,  an  almost  unique  phenomenon. 
Its  surface  is,  as  I  have  said,  amazingly  depressed 
below  the  sea-level,  but  it  lies  in  a  bowl  or  cauldron  itself 
thirteen  hundred  feet  deep  at  its  lowest  point.  The 
edge  of  this  bowl,  however,  reaches  only  to  two-thirds 
of  its  length  from  north  to  south,  and  the  depth  of  the 
other  third  is,  in  great  part,  no  moie  than  thirteen  feet. 
Its  lower  end  is  thus,  in  reality,  the  edge  of  the  deep 
bed  ;  hidden  by  only  a  few  feet  of  water.  The  hills  on 
its  west  shore  are  of  Hippurite  *  limestone ;  a  rock  of  the 
chalk  formation,  in  which,  as  in  Syria,  layers  of  bitumen, 
fluid  and  solid,  occur ;  and  also,  of  rock  salt.  The  whole 
of  the  hills,  indeed,  smell  of  bitumen,  and  the  chalk  marl 
is  so  thoroughly  impregnated  with  it  at  some  places  that 
it  burns  fiercely  when  kindled.     This  is   especially  the 

'  Fraas. 

2  Stanley,  Sinai  and  Palestine,  p.  285. 

■  Hippurite  is  the  name  of  an  extinct  fossil  shell,  not  unlike  a 
straight  horn.  Some  are  a  foot  long;  most  very  small.  In 
South  France  and  in  the  Alps  it  forms  almost  the  entire  sub- 
stance of  widely  spread  and  very  thick  rocks.  BrockhauB* 
Loxicotif  viii.  p.  283.    Nicholson's  Palcbontology,  vol.  i.  p.  463. 


' 


Abraham's  second  rbsidencs  in  oanaam.        387 

case  between  Engodi  and  the  north-west  comer,  wliore  the 
shore  is  lined  with  a  mass  of  bitumen  in  which  pebbles  of 
all  kinds  are  thickly  imbedded.^  The  eastern  shore  rests 
throughout  on  sandstone  which,  howovor,  at  some  places 
is  pierced  by  huge  veins  and  beds  of  volcanic  rock.* 
The  chalk  of  the  west  shoro  reappears  only  atop  of  those 
two ;  so  complete  has  been  the  dislocation  or  "  fault "  of 
tho  two  sides,  through  primeval  earthquakes  or  other 
convulsions.  A  tongue  of  land  formed  of  the  debris 
brought  down  from  the  hills,  in  the  course  of  ages,  by 
torrents,  juts  out  into  tho  lake  for  two-thirds  of  its 
breadth,  on  the  south-oast,  and  marks  the  beginning  of 
the  shallow  water. 

The  Dead  Sea  has  been  immemorially  a  more  reservoir 
for  the  waters  of  the  Jordan,  and  of  the  mountain  torrents 
which  flow  into  it.  The  former,  alone^  discharges  into  it 
not  less  than  six  million  tons  of  water  every  twenty-four 
hours  ; '  yet  the  evaporation,  from  the  direct  heat  of  tho 
Bun  and  the  reflected  heat  of  the  rocks,  keeps  the  balance 
comparatively  even  through  the  year.  In  winter,  indeed, 
the  surface  is  two  or  three  yards  higher  than  in  summer, 
but  this  makes  little  diflbrence  in  the  extent  of  the  sea, 
except  at  its  shallow  southern  end.  At  that  part, 
Gebel  TJsdum,  a  huge  mountain  of  rock-salt,  capped  by 
gypsum  and  marl,  about  seven  miles  long,  and  from  one- 
and-a-half  to  three  miles  broad,  hollowed  out  by  rains 
and  springs,  sends  a  constant  addition  of  brine  to  tho 
lake ;  and  this,  with  that  which  enters  it  in  other  parts, 
has  gradually  made  it  more  than  six  times  Salter  than 
the  open  ocean.*  Hence  nothing  living  can  exist  in  it. 
The  fish  carried  down  by  the  Jordan  at  once  die,  nor  can 

'  Tristram,  Land  of  Israel,  p.  277. 

•  Basalt.  *  Fraas,  in  Biehm,  p.  972. 

*  The  ocean  has  4  per  cent,  of  salt ;  the  Dead  Sea,  26}. 


888 


ABRAHAM'S   SECOND   RESIDENCE   IN   CANAAN. 


even  mussels  or  corals  live  in  it ;  but  it  is  a  fable  that  no 
bird  can  fly  over  it  or  that  there  are  no  living  creatures 
on  its  banks.  Dr.  Tristram  found  on  the  shores,  three 
kinds  of  kingfishers,  gulls,  ducks,  and  grebes,  which, 
he  says,  live  on  the  fish  which  enter  the  sea  in  shoals  and 
presently  die.  He  collected  one  hundred  and  eighteen 
species  of  birds,  some  new  to  science,  on  the  shores,  or 
swimming  or  flying  over  the  waters.  The  cane-brakes 
which  fringe  it  at  some  parts  are  the  homes  of  about  forty 
species  of  mammalia,  several  of  them  animals  unknown 
in  England,  and  innumerable  tropical  or  semi-tropical 
plants  perfume  the  atmosphere,  wherever  fresh  water  can 
reach.  The  climate  is  perfect,  and  most  delicious,  and, 
indeed,  there  is,  perhaps,  no  place  in  the  world  where  a 
sanatorium  could  be  established  with  so  much  prospect 
of  benefit  as  at  Ain  Jidi  (Engedi).  There  are  many 
spots  near  the  lake  where  freshwater  streams  flow 
throughout  the  year,  and  where  sweet  water  bubbles  up 
within  a  few  feet  of  the  salt  shore.  The  rich  plain  of 
the  Sa^^li,  at  the  south-east  corner  of  the  lake,  is  culti- 
vated for  indigo,  maize,  and  barley  to  within  a  few  feet 
of  the  water's  edge,  and  the  date  palm  still  waves  over 
the  mouth  of  the  Arnon  and  Zerka.^  •  The  waters  of  the 
lake  are,  in  fact,  only  salt  by  being  saturated  from  the 
great  salt  mountain  of  Usdum,  at  the  south  end.* 

*  Canon  Tristram  in  Daily  Telegraph;  also  fully,  Nat.  Hist. 
of  the  Bible, -pp.  12,  280. 

2  Canon  Tristram,  noting  that  Engedi,  had— as  the  former  name 
Hazezon  Tamar,  implies — groves  of  palms  in  Abraham's  day,  and 
that  these  groves  were  famous  even  down  to  the  Christian  era, 
says  that  on  breaking  through  the  limestone  incrustation  of  the 
recesses  of  the  ro<  ks  there,  he  found  great  masses  of  perfect 
palm  leaves,  and  even  whole  trees,  petrified  where  they  had  stood. 
Clumps  of  date  palms  still  flourish  in  the  small  oases  on  the 
east  shore  of  the  sea.    Nat.  Hist,  of  Bible,  p.  380. 


lat  no 
btures 
three 
yhich, 
is  and 
;hteen 
es,  or 
)rake3 
forty 
tnown 
opical 
er  can 
3,  and, 
liere  a 
ospect 
many 
flow 
les  up 
lain  of 
I  culti- 
}w  feet 
3S  over 
of  the 
)m  the 


',t.  Hist. 

er  name 
iay,  and 
bian  era, 
n  of  the 
[  perfect 
d  stood. 
on  the 


Abraham's  second  residence  in  canaan. 


389 


:■ 


The  basin  of  the  Dead  Sea  is  in  keeping  in  its 
peculiarities  with  the  whole  course  of  the  Jordan,  "  The 
Descender/'  which  feeds  it.  In  sixty  miles,  its  constant 
twistings  make  the  actual  length  two  hundred,  and  for 
the  whole  distance  it  flows  far  below  the  surface  of  the 
neighbouring  country,  through  a  mere  fissure  torn  in  the 
rocks  by  volcanic  force  at  some'  remote  period.  Issuing 
from  Lake  Merom  at  a  level  of  ninety  feet  above  the 
Mediterranean,  it  enters  the  Lake  of  Galilee  at  a  level  of 
300  feet  below  it,  and  rushjs  thence,  in  a  gloomy  and 
deep  chasm,  from  ledge  to  ledge,  down  twenty-seven 
rapids  till,  at  the  Dead  Sea,  it  is,  as  has  been  said, 
1,300  feet  below  the  Mediterranean,  and  3,000  below  the 
streets  of  Jerusalem. 

The  position  of  the  cities  of  the  plain  has  been  much 
disputed.  In  the  opinions  of  Mr.  George  Grove,  Canon 
Tristram,  and  others,  it  must  have  been  north  of  the 
Dead  Sea ;  in  the  "  circle  "  in  which,  afterwards,  stood 
Jericho :  but  others  look  to  the  south  end  of  the  lake  as 
the  true  spot.  They  urge  that  the  *'  Vale  of  Siddim  " 
is  said  to  have  been  full  of  bitumen  pits,  and  that  though 
none  are  now  found  around  the  shallow  part  of  the  lake, 
masses  of  it  rise  to  the  surface  after  earthquakes,^  as  if  the 
soil  of  the  bottom  were  still  largely  impregnated  with  it. 
The  Bedouins,  indeed,  who  now  frequent  the  springs  and 
pastures  on  the  shores,  trade  at  Jerusalem  in  the  salt  of 
the  lake  and  in  the  bitumen  which  they  fish  out  of  the 
waters  or  pick  up  on  the  shores.  The  fields  of  Sodom, 
moreover,  were  well  watered  and  fruitful  as  a  garden  of 
the  Lord,  and  Robinson  tells  us  that  a  whole  series  of 
permanent  brooks  and  streams  flow  into  the  lake  at  the 
south  end,  where  the  level  surface  especially  favoured 

^  Canon  Tristram  says  he  gathered  some  very  large  fragments. 
Nat.  Hist,  of  Bible,  p,  2  k 


390 


Abraham's  second  bbsidence  in  canaan. 


irrigation.  Dr.  Thomson,^ .  believing  that  the  cities 
stood  at  the  south  end  of  the  lake,  says,  that  in  sum  ler 
the  southern  plateau  is  covered  with  only  three  feet  of 
water  and  is  waded  across  in  all  directions,  though  in 
winter  the  depth  of  the  water  is  thirteen  feet.  He 
argues  from  this  that  the  plateau  may  have  been  dyked 
off  in  the  days  of  Sodoin,  and  that  its  submergence  at 
all  rises  only  from  the  destruction  of  these  dykes,  with 
perhaps  a  slight  subsidence  of  the  land.  He  thinks^ 
moreover,  the  lake  was  fresh  till  the  waters  overflowed 
the  southern  end;  but  this  seems  impossible  when  we 
remember  that  the  ancient  beaches,  showing  its  former 
levels,  stand  over  300  feet  above  its  surface. 

On  the  other  hand.  Major  Wilson,  of  the  Palestine 
Survey,  agreeing  with  Mr.  Grove,  Canon  Tristram  and 
Lieut.  Conder,  in  thinking  that  the  cities  were  to  the 
north  of  the  lake,  writes  thus: — "'In  Geu.  xiii.  1-12, 
there  is  an  interesting  account  of  the  parting  of  Abraham 
and  Lot,  at  the  camp  of  the  former,  between  Bethel  and 
Hai,  now  represented  by  Beitum  and  a  mass  of  ruins 
called  Et  Tell ;  and  in  close  proximity  to  these  two  places 
there  is  a  hill  from  which  a  commanding  view  of  the 
plain  "^orth  of  the  Dead  Sea  is  obtained,  and  on  which 
are  the  foundations  of  a  very  old  church,  possibly 
marking  the  site  of  Abraham's  altar.  The  position  of 
Abraham's  camp  must,  at  any  rate,  have  been  in  the 
immediate  neighbourhood ;  and  as  it  is  hardly  possible 
for  any  one  to  read  the  account  without  feeling  that 
Abraham  and  Lot  were  actually  looking  down  on  Sodom 
and  Gomorrah,  when  '  Lot  lifted  up  his  eyes  and  beheld 
all  the  plain  of  Jordan,'  it  follows  that  those  cities  must 
have  been  situated  on  some  part  of  the  plain  north  of 
the  Dead  Sea  and  visible  from  the  heights  of  Bethel.** 

*  Land  and  Booht  p.  632. 


! 


Abraham's  second  besidencb  in  canaan. 


891 


He  adds  that  "the  plain  or  'circle'  of  Jordan  could 
not  have  extended  beyond  the  point  where  the  river 
enters  the  Dead  Sea/'  and  quotes  the  statement  that  Lot 
journeyed  east,  "  which  would  have  led  him  far  away 
from  the  southern  end  of  the  sea."  ^  He  accounts  for 
the  disappearance  of  all  traces  of  the  cities  to  their  being 
gradually  buiied  under  the  debris  of  the  western  hills, 
washed  down  by  the  winter  torrents,  so  as  gradually  to 
raise  the  level  of  the  lower  plain  till  it  forms  "a  flat 
expanse  of  half  consolidated  mud."  ^  It  may  be  added, 
that  whether  the  cities  were  at  the  north  or  at  the  south 
end,  the  smoke  of  their  destruction  would  be  visible 
from  the  camp  at  Mamre,  where  Abraham  was  when  the 
catastrophe  took  place — but  if  they  were  at  the  south, 
there  is  no  depression  of  the  hills  to  aid  the  view, 
whereas,  there  is  a  dip  in  the  range  towards  the  north 
end,  over  which  the  smoke  would  be  easily  visible.' 
A  hill,  however,  is  still  pointed  out  among  the  many 
summits  near  Hebron,  as  that  from  which  Abrp.ham 
looked  into  the  deep  gulf  which  parts  the  mountains 
of  Judea  from  those  vast,  unknown,  unvisited  ranges, 
which,  with  their  caves  and  wide  tableland,  invited  tho 
fugitives  from  the  plain  below.* 

As  to  the  causes  of  the  catastrophe,  opinions  have  been 
no  less  divided  than  on  other  points.  Josephus,  ex- 
pressing no  doubt  the  belief  of  the  ancient  Jews,  ascribes 

*  Biblical  Educator,  vol.  iii.  p.  359. 

«  Oonder,  Pal.    'xplor.  Fund.  Bep.  (1874),  p.  39. 

*  Tristram's  Land  of  Israel,  p.  365. 

*  Stanley's  Jewish  Church,  vol.  i.  p.  47.  Ewald  (vol.  i.  p.  450) 
thinks  the  cities  stood  at  the  south  end  of  the  Dead  Sea  and 
attributes  their  overthrow  to  an  earthquake.  The  name  Usdum 
certainly  sounds  like  Sodom.  But  C.uion  Tristram's  arguments, 
stated  at  length  in  The  Land  of  Israel,  p.  364,  seem  to  make  ii 
certain  that  the  doomed  cities  were  at  the  north  end. 


892 


AliiUHAM  S   SLCOND    RESIDENCE    IN    CANAAN. 


it  to  lightning,^  and  a  striking  legend  found  in  the 
Assyrian  mounds  seems  to  favour  the  idea  of  a  terrible 
thunderstorm  accompanied  by  a  flood.^ 

An  overthrow  from  the  midst  of  the  deep  ^  there  came 

The  fated  punishment  from  the  midst  of  heaven  descended. 

A  storm,  like  a  plummet,  the  earth  (overwhelmed). 

To  the  four  winds  the  destroying  flood  hurned  like  fire. 

The  inhabitants  of  the  cities  it  caused  to  be  tormented ;  their 
bodies  it  consumed. 

Freeman  and  slave  were  equal,  and  the  high  places  it  felled. 

In  heaven  and  earth  like  a  thunderstorm  it  had  rained ;  a  prey 
it  made. 

A  place  of  refuge  the  gods  hastened  to,  and  in  a  throng  collected. 

Its  mighty  (onset)  they  fled  from,  and  liko  a  garment  it  con- 
cealed (mankind).  i 

They  (feared)  and  death  (overtook  them) 

Their  feet  and  hands  (it  embraced)  , 

Tbeu*  body  it  consumed. 

On  the  other  hand,  a  writer  so  calm  and  scientific  as 
Furrer  *  thinks  that  an  earthquake  was  the  especial  cause. 
*'  In  the  vicinity  of  the  whole  region/'  says  Fraas,*  also, 
''along  the  line  of  such  a  deep  chasm,  subterranean 
movements  are  constant,  and  necessarily  lead  to  changes 
of  the  level  of  land  and  water,  that  is,  to  volcanic  appear- 
ances in  the  widest  sense  of  the  word,  which  produce 
frightful  earthquakes.  Thus  Tiberias  was  destroyed  by 
one  so  lately  as  1837.  The  Dead  Sea  is  not  volcanic  in 
the  strict  sense,  as  is  shown  by  the  regularity  of  the 
strata  of  limestone,  though  pieces  of  brimstone  of  the 
size  of  walnuts  are  found  on  the  shores  at  some  places, 
and  though   there  are   strong   hot   springs   at  various 

*  Bell.  J  ad.,  iv.  8,  4. 

*  Records  of  the  Past,  vol.  xi.  p.  117.    Translated  by  Prof.  Sayce 

*  Deep  =  the  abyss  of  the  firmament — the  waters  above  it.  Sayce, 

*  Schenkel's  Bibel  Lex.,  vol.  iv.  p.  155. 
»  Aus  dem  Orient  (18()7),  p.  78. 


ABBAHAM's   second   residence    in   CANAAN. 


393 


points  on  the  east  side,  one  of  them,  at  least,  smelling 
strongly  of  sulphur/'  But  the  presence  of  lava  at  many 
places  near  the  Sea  of  Galilee,  and  in  the  Ledja  ;  with  the 
wild  irruptions  of  volcanic  rocks  on  the  east  side  of  the 
Jordan  and  of  the  Dead  Sea  itself,  are  enough  to  show 
that  forces  lie  hidden  beneath,  which  at  any  time  may 
show  themselves  ?  The  Bible  account  is  very  simple  and 
striking.  *'The  Lord  rained  upon  Sodom  and  upon 
Gomorrah  brimstone  and  fire  out  of  heaven,  and  over- 
threw them  and  all  the  plain,  and  all  the  inhabitants  of 
the  cities,  and  that  whicli  grew  upon  the  ground."  This 
seems  to  imply  a  terrible  storm  of  lightning  and  tempest ; 
but  we  may  well  suppose  that  an  earthquake  added  its 
terrors.  Fire  from  above  might  kindle  the  layers  of 
asphalt  with  which  the  plain  abounded,^  and  trembling^s 
of  the  ground  might  aid  the  storm-flood  in  overwhelL- .ng 
everything.  There  is  no  geological  reason  against 
believing  the  shallow  part  of  the  lake  a  result  of  the 
catastrophe,  for  a  slight  subsidence  of  the  ground,  such 
as  often  happens  elsewhere,  would  at  once  submerge  it. 
The  whole  district,  in  fact,  before  the  terrible  visitation, 
must  have  been  very  like  that  of  Baku  on  the  Caspian 
Sea ;  where  numerous  fissures  in  the  earth  pour  out  liquid 
bitumen,  while  others  give  off  inflammable  gas  which 
burns  permanently  when  lighted- — some  parts,  indeed, 
so  freely,  that  it  is  only  necessary  to  insert  a  pipe  in  the 
earth,  and  set  fire  to  it  above,  to  have  light  and  heat 
forthwith.^  No  wonder  that  when  Abraham,  in  the 
morning  after  the  awful  night,  looked  towards  the  once 
smiling  valley,  "  the  smoke  of  the  country  went  up  as 
the  smoke  of  a  furnace." 


*  Tristram,  Nat.  Hist,  of  Bible,  p.  25. 

*  Roaenraiiller's  Das  Morgenland.    Dillmann's  Genesis,  p.  251. 


!i. 


894 


Abraham's  second  residence  in  canaan. 


The  reward  of  Abraham's  lofty  trust  in  God  might 
have  seemed  complete,  on  the  birth  of  his  long-promised 
heir— Isaac — twenty-five  years  after  the  migration  from 
Harran;  when  all  hope  of  such  a  blessing  seemed  past. 
But  the  fine  gold  was  to  be  tried  once  more,  to  prove  its 
quality  beyond  a  question.  He  had  gone  out  not  know- 
ing whither,  at  God's  call ;  he  had  lived  as  a  stranger  in 
Canaan,  believing  the  promise  that  it  would  hereafter  be 
his  inheritance,  while  as  yet  he  had  no  child ;  year  after 
year  his  trust  had  been  unshaken,  though  realization  of 
his  hopes  seemed  humanly  impossible.  But  a  son  had  at 
last  been  given  him  in  his  old  age,  and  had  grown  up  to 
youth,  in  visible  fulfilment  of  the  long- delayed  assurance. 
The  ideal  of  faith  had  not,  however,  yet  been  reached ; 
there  might  be  something  still  wanting  of  absolute, 
unconditional  obedience  to  God's  will :  some  compliance 
too  great  to  be  demanded.  The  nations  round  thought 
nothing  too  sacred  or  beloved  to  keep  back  from  their 
idols ;  was  Abraham  capable  of  equal  self-sacrifice  ? 

From  the  earliest  ages  the  desire  to  please  the  Divine 
Being  had  led  men  to  carry  to  extremes  the  institution 
of  sacrifice,  originally,  in  all  likelihood,  appointed  by  God 
Himself.  From  offering  lambs  and  oxen  they  had 
gradually  reasoned  themselves  into  the  hideous  thought 
that  the  more  precious  the  offering  the  greater  its  ac- 
ceptableness,  and  had  thus  introduced  the  practice  of 
presenting  human  victims.  The  old  Accadians,  or  early 
Turanian  inhabitants  of  Chaldea,  had  already  adopted  it, 
long  before  Abraham.^ 

"  In  the  month  Sivan,"  says  an  old  Accadian  inscrip- 
tion, "from  the  first  day  to  the  thirtieth,  un,  eclipse 
failed  (and)  the  crops  of  the  land  were  not  prosperous. 

*  Tran8.  8oc.  Bib.  Arch.,  vol.  iv.  p.  25, 


^ 


^ 


ABRAHAM'S   SECOND    BES1DEN0B   IN    CANAAN. 


805 


When  the  God  of  the  air  (the  atmosphere)  is  fine,  (then 
there  is)  prosperity.  On  the  high  places  the  son  is 
burnt." 

Another  says  :— 

*'  He  gave  his  offspring  for  his  life 
The  head  of  his  offspring  for  his  own  head ; 
The  front  of  his  offspring  for  his  own  front, 
The  breast  of  his  offspring  for  his  own  breast." 

The  Canaanite  races,  at  least  those  of  Cushite  origin,  not 
to  be  behind  the  earlier  people,  had  adopted  from  them 


HvitiV  Saoxifiox.    Fbox  "  L'EaTTTB— AKnQmrM." 

this  terrible  rite,  and  had  brought  it  with  them  from  the 
Euphrates  to  Palestine.  To  make  their  "  children  pass 
through  the  fire,''  "to  offer  up  their  sons  and  their 
daughters ; "  and  "  to  give  their  firstborn  for  their  trans- 
gressions; the  fruit  of  their  body  for  the  sin  of  their 
soul "  had  become,  we  know  not  how  early,  a  dreadful 
characteristic  of  their  religion.  On  the  altars  of  Ammon 
and  Moab,  of  Egypt  and  of  Phenicia,  as  afterwards  on 


V'-f 


396 


Abraham's  second  residence  in  canaan. 


i   ■ 


those  of  the  distant  Punic  settlements  in  Carthage  and 
Spain,  the  highest  expression  of  the  spirit  of  sacrifice 
found  satisfaction  only  in  the  burning  alive  of  children 
by  their  parents.  Nor  was  the  awful  custom  without  its 
dark  influence  even  on  the  chosen  people,  as  in  the 
fate  of  Jepthah's  daughter,  the  sacrifice  of  Saul's  sons  at 
Gibeah,  and  the  terrible  scenes  in  the  valley  of  Hinnom, 
under  the  walls  of  Jerusalem,  where,  in  the  days  of  Ahaz 
and  Manasseh,  it  became  for  a  time  established.^ 

The  final  and  crowning  trial,  which  was  to  test  whether 
the  self-surrender  of  the  patriarch  was  equal  to  such 
sacrifices  as  the  nations  around  him  made  to  their  idols, 
came  to  him  in  his  tents  at  Beersheba^ — a  camping 
place  on  the  pastoral  uplands  of  the  south  country, 
twelve  hours  south-west  of  Hebron,  and  thus  on  the 
extreme  limits  of  Palestine.  The  two  springs  which 
attracted  the  patriarch  to  the  spot,  and  in  after  ages 
made  it  the  centre  of  a  considerable  population,  still  rise 
in  two  deep  wells  sunk  sixty  feet  into  the  limestone 
rock,  at  300  paces  apart,  and  built  round  with  stone. 
The  top  is  now  worn  into  deep  ruts  by  the  ropes  used 
through  thousands  of  years,  for  drawing  the  clear  and 
delicious  water,  for  camels,  herds,  and  flocks,  as  well  as 
for  the  use  of  man.  Round  the  well  stand  stone  troughs 
of  great  age,  to  assist  in  the  supply  of  the  thirsty  cattle.' 
The  grove  planted  by  the  patriarch,  not  of  ilex  or 
terebinth,  which  never  descend  into  these  wild  plains, 
but  of  the  light  feathery  tamarisk,  the  first  and  the  last 

'  2  Kings  xxiii.  10.     2  Chron.  xxviii.  3  ;  xxxiii.  6. 

3  "  The  Well  of  the  Oath."  It  may  also  bo  translated,  "  The 
WoU  of  the  Seven  (Lambs),"  but  the  idea  is  the  sj-me ;  for  the 
seven  lambs  were  the  offerings  to  confirm,  as  with  an  oath,  the 

the  expression   for 


agreement  made.       To  "seventh    it  "  was 

swearing  an  oath.     Miehaelis,  vol.  vi.  p.  147. 

•  Sepp,  Das  Heilige  Land,  vol.  i.  p.  637. 


A 


\ 


> 


, 


ABUAHAM  S    SECOND    RESIDENCE    IN    CANAAN. 


307 


tree  which  tho  traveller  sees  on  his  passaj^e  through  the 
desert,  and  thus  the  appropriate  growth  of  the  spot, 
has  long  since  vanished,  but  it  was  from  beneath  its 
growing  and  delightful  shade  that  he  and  Isaac  set  forth 
on  their  sad  journey. 


Beebshbba. 

From  Palmer's  "  Besert  of  the  Exodus,"  by  permission. 

The  scene  of  Abraham's  trial  is  spoken  of  as  "the  land 
of  Moriah/'  an  expression  which  has  given  rise  to  great 
dispute,  for  the  only  Moriah  known  is  the  hill  which 
Solomon  afterwards  consecrated  as  the  site  of  the  temple, 
and  it  is  not  elsewhere  used  as  a  name  for  any  district 
round.  Jerusalem,  moreover,  has  been  thought  too  near 
Beersheba  to  suit  the  description  of  the  journey  as  one 
of  three  days.     It  has  hence  been  thought  that  a  spot 


ii;t^ 


^'!l 


m'^ 


i  '■■  »!  ( 


898 


Abraham's  second  besidbncb  in  canaan. 


near  Shechem,  the  place  consecrated  by  the  first  altar 
Abraham  raised  in  Canaan,  is  meant.^  It  is  urged  that 
there  is  no  mention  in  Genesis  of  a  Mount  Moriah,  and 
that  the  only  place  besides  the  present  in  which  the  name 
occurs  is  in  the  book  of  Chronicles,  which  is  confessedly 
of  a  later  date.*  Of  Moreh,  at  Shechem,  on  the  other  hand 
it  is  said  that  we  read  in  Judges  of  the  Hill  of  Moreh,* 
that  is,  *'  tho  Teacher,'*  and  of  its  oak  or  oaks,  under  the 
broad  shade  of  which  Abraham  first  pitched  his  tent,^ 
and  built  an  altar,  and  where  he  was  favoured  by  a  vision 
of  Jehovah.  In  the  Samaritan  Pentateuch  it  is  spelt 
Moriah,  while  the  Greek  version  translates  it  "the  high 
land,"  from  an  etymology,  implying  "lofty," or  "exalted." 
A  n~  ong  all  ancient  interpreters,  moreover.  Mount  Moriah 
at  Jerusalem  finds  favour  only  with  the  Jerusalem  Targum, 
which  naturally  sought  to  glorify  the  temple  hill. 

Yet  not  a  few  cling  to  the  belief  that  this  opinion 
is  right.  There,  it  is  said,  Abraham  had  exhibited  his 
great  deed  of  faith  and  obedience,  there  his  only  offering 
was  presented  of  which  we  have  a  record,  though  he 
built  various  other  altars.  Thus,  it  is  urged,  the  sacred 
hill  where  the  Covenant  God  was  afterwards  to  dwell, 
and  where  alone  His  people  could  present  their  offerings, 
received  its  consecration,  already,  in  Abraham's  time.^ 

*  See  the  argament  for  this  stated  at  length  by  Bleek,  in 
Studien  und  Kritiken  (1831).  Lieut.  Oonder  seems  to  favour 
Bleek's  view.  "  The  Temple  Hill,"  he  says,  *'  is  not  visible  until 
within  a  half  mile  of  it :  Gerizim  is  seen  *  afar  off'  from  the  mari- 
time plain,  within  fifty  miles  of  Beersheba."  Pal.  Explor.  Fund. 
Bep.  (July,  1880),  p.  173. 

«  2  Chron.  iii.  1.      *  Judges  vii.  1.      *  Gen.  xii.  6.  Deut.  xi.  30. 

*  Abram.  Riehm's  Handworterbuch.  Gesenius  also  thinks  it 
was  Moriah,  quoting  Josephus,  Ani.f  i.  13,  1.  He  gives  the 
etymology  of  Moriah,  adopted  by  the  sacred  writers,  as  "  Mori 
Jah,"  the  chosen  of  God.     Compare  2  Chron.  iii.  1,  which  Gese- 


' 


ABRAHAM'S  SECOND   RESIDENCE   IN   CANAAN. 


399 


1 


Canon  Trialiram,  indeed,  appears  to  settle  the  question 
by  the  stubborn  evidence  of  the  distances  of  Gerizim, 
or  Moreh,  and  Moriah,  from  Beorsheba,  respectively. 
"Travelling  at  the  ordinary  rate  of  the  country/'  says  he, 
"Jerusalem  would  just  be  reached  on  -the  third  day  (as 
required  by  this  narrative)  from  Beersheba;  to  reach 
Nablous  (Moreh)  in  the  same  time  is  impossiblef  at  the 
pace  of  fellahin  with  their  asses.''  ^ 

The  terrible  drama  was  permitted  to  continue  till  the 
proof  was  complete  and  triumphant,  that  the  patriarch's 
faith  was  equal  to  any  strain,  and. that  nothing  could 
shake  his  trust  in  the  Divine  word,  even  should  it  be 
necessary,  as  the  writer  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews 
expresses  it,  that  "  God  should  raise  up  Isaac  from 
the  dead."^  But,  before  the  literal  victim  could  be 
offered,  the  true  purpose  and  spirit  of  the  trial  were  shown, 
in  the  final  and  fatal  act  being  arrested.  Abraham's  un- 
conditional submission,  and  his  readiness  to  complete  the 
sacrifice,  were  accepted  instead.  Henceforth  it  was  proved 
that  the  lonely  follower  of  Jehovah  was  not  behind  the 
servants  of  Chemosh  or  Baal  in  self-surrender  to  his  God. 
But  it  was  also  taught  that,  while  the  God  of  Abraham 
had  a  right  to  demand  even  such  a  sacrifice  as  that  of 
an  only  son,  a  limit  was  fixed  to  the  impulse  in  man  to 
offer  his  costliest  and  best,  and  a  sacredness  stamped  on 
human  life.  The  highest  devotion  authorized  was  to  be 
symbolized  only  by  the  offering  of  lower  creatures,  not  of 
human  beings ;  the  life  of  the  creature  being  regarded 
as  accepted  instead  of  that  of  the  offerer.  Thus,  the 
solemn  lesson  was  taught,  no  loss  vividly  than  before,  that 
sacrifice  was  no  mere  outward  act,  but  an  awful  confession 

nius  translates,  the  hill  Moriah,  which  was  pointed  out  to  David 
(in  a  vision).     Thes.,  p.  1246. 

»  Land  of  Israel,  p.  154.  ^  Heb.  xi.  19. 


4*M 


I 


400 


Abraham's  sscond  residrncg  in  oanaan. 


of  guilt  and  exposure  to  wrath,  as  well  as  an  atonement 
or  expiation.  On  the  one  hand  the  great  principle  waa 
proclaimed  that  the  sacrifice  of  self  was  the  highest  and* 
holiest  offering  that  God  can  accept  ;  and  on  the  other, 
the  inhuman  sacrifices,  towards  which  the  ancient  cere- 
irionial  was  perpetually  tending,  were  condemned,  and 
cast  out  of  the  true  worship  of  the  Church  for  ever.* 

His  son  given  back  to  him,  as  if  from  the  dead,  the 
spot  became  memorable,  not  to  the  patriarch  alone,  but 
to  all  ages,  as  the  scene  of  a  great  lesson.  Henceforth 
the  name  Jehovah  Jireh  was  given  to  it — the  Lord  will 
provide — but  to  this  the  sacred  author  appendc  a  Jewish 
proverb,  which  illustrates,  in  the  variety  of  interpretations 
givenit,  thedifficultyof  understanding  fully  the  sententious 
expressions  of  remote  antiquity.  "  In  the  mountain  the 
Lord  will  provide,''  that  is,  "as  He  had  pity  on  Abraham, 
so  He  will  have  pity  on  us,"  says  Dean  Stanley.  "  In 
the  mountain  of  the  Lord,  He  appeareth,"  say  Tuch  and 
Delitzsch.  "  On  the  mountain  where  Jehovah  appeareth, 
let  us  praise  Him,"  says  Ewald.  *'  Oa  the  mountain  of 
-the  Lord.one  shall  be  seen  as  a  worshipper,"  says  Kalisch. 
"On  Mount  Moriah  God  provides  for  men  and  sends  them 
help ;  as  He  of  old  did  to  Abraham,  so  He  does  to  us 
now,"  says  Gesenius.^ 

It  is  striking  to  notice  the  echoes  of  this  great  event 
in  ancient  heathenism.    Among  the  Phenicians  it  was  told 

*  Stanley's  Jewish  Church,  p.  49.  Rev.  F.  W.  Robertson  (Notes 
on  Oenesis,  p.  65)  remarks : — "  Abraham  lived  in  a  country  where 
human  sacrifices  were  common ;  he  lived  in  a  day  when  a  father's 
power  over  a  son's  life  was  absolute.  He  was  familiar  with  the 
idea,  and  just  as  familiarity  with  slavery  makes  it  less  horrible, 
so  familiarity  with  this,  as  an  established  and  conscientious  mode 
of  worshipping  God,  removed  from  Abraham  much  of  the  horror 
we  should  feel. 

'Ges.,  Thes.yp.  1246. 


ABRAHAMS  8EC0NU   RESIDENCE   IN    CANAAN. 


401 


»nement 
ale  was 
est  and' 
)  other, 
nt  cere- 
od,  and 

3ad,  the 
me,  but 
icefcfth 
jrd  will 
Jewish 
etations 
bentious 
tain  the 
brahara, 
r.  "  In 
ich  and 
Deareth, 
itain  of 
tCalisch. 
is  them 
3  to  us 

,t  event 
(vas  told 

on  (Notes 
ry  where 
i  father's 
with  the 
horrible, 
)us  mode 
e  horror 


1 


» 


how  Israel,  king  of  the  country,  having  an  only  son, 
whoso  mother's  name  was  Anobret,  "  the  Hebrew 
Fountain, "  on  occasion  of  a  great  nationnl  cal  unity, 
adorned  him  royally  and  sacrificed  hi  in  on  an  altar  which 
ho  had  prepared.^  Among  the  Greeks  Agamemnon 
prepares  to  saci  Ilico  his  daughter  Iphigenia,  who,  how- 
ever, is  delivered  at  the  last  moment  by  the  goddess  Diana 
providing,  in  her  stead,  a  hind.^ 

From  tho  scene  of  this  great  victory  of  trust  in  God, 
Abraham  returned  to  his  camping  place  at  Beershoba; 
in  after  times,  from  being  the  lust  inhabited  spot  on 
the  edge  of  the  desert,  regarded  as  the  southern  frontier 
of  his  descendants.  Why  he  should  have  left  Hebron 
is  only  matter  for  conjecture.  It  may  have  been  to  be 
nearer  his  flocks  and  herds,  to  which  the  wells  of  Beer- 
sheba  offered  the  priceless  advantage,  in  these  wild 
regions,  of  abundant  water.  Or,  can  it  have  been  that 
he  might  be  nearer  Ishmael,  his  firstborn  son,  thrust  out 
from  his  father's  home  by  the  imperious  bearing  of  "  the 
princess "  of  the  tribe ;  who  would  brook  no  rival  to 
Isaac  in  her  presence  ?  Or  was  it  the  revival  in  Abraham, 
in  his  old  age,  of  the  Bedouin  love  of  the  open  desert, 
far  from  the  haunts  of  men  ?  In  any  case,  Beersheba 
continued  for  many  years  the  centre  of  patriarchal  life, 
for  Isaac  lingered  near  it  long  after  his  father's  death,^ 
and  Jacob  returned  to  it  after  his  exile. 

Thirty-seven  years  had  passed  since  the  birth  of  Isaac,* 
and  Sarah  had  attained  the  great  age  of  a  hundred  and 
twenty-sevpn,    when   death   overtook  her    at   Hebron,* 

*  Kcnrick's  Phenicia,  p.  228. 

■  Eiiripid.,  Iph.  Aul,  783.  »  Gen.  sxvi.  23. 

*  Compare  Gen.  xvii.  17,  and  xxiii.  1.     Isaac's  marriage  took 
place  three  years  after  Sarah's  death,  Gen.  xxv.  20. 

'^  The  name  of  iiobrou  is  given  in  this  passage  as  Kiriatli  Arbu. 
VOL.    I.  ,  D    D 


il 


:>li  J 


m 


P. 


402 


Abraham's  SECOND  residence  in  canaan. 


I 


apparently  while  the  patriarch  was  for  the  time  away  at 
Beersheba,  among  his  flocks,  perhaps  little  dreading  such 
a  calamity.  It  would  seem,  indeed,  as  if  part  of  the  tribe 
still  remained  there,  Beersheba  being,  as  it  were,  an  out- 
post in  the  midst  of  the  desert  pastures,  which  Abraham 
occasionally  visited.  Nothing  could  be  more  touching 
in  its  simplicity  or  more  true  to  the  age,  than  the 
picture  of  his  bearing  under  his  new  trial,  and  of  the 
incident  attending  the  burial  of  the  dead.  He  comes  at 
once  to  "  mourn  for  Sarah  and  to  weep  for  her,''  prostrat- 
ing himself  in  his  grief  before  the  lifeless  form  long  so 
dear.  But  the  hot  climate  necessitated  speedy  interment, 
and  he  therefore  *'  stands  up  from  before  his  dead,"  and 
summons  the  men  of  the  town ;  which  it  appears  was 
a  little  republic,  managing  its  affairs  by  representative 
elders ;  to  buy  from  them  in  perpetuity,  a  resting-place  for 
his  wife  and  afterwards  for  himself.  If,  as  Prof.  Sayce 
thinks,^  the  Hittites  were  a  branch  of  the  Northern 
Kheta,  we  can  picture  to  ourselves  the  group,  who  in 
Eastern  fashion,  met  Abraham  outside  the  town  gate,' 
dressed  in  loose  gowns  like  those  of  the  Assyrians,  reach- 
ing the  ancles,  their  beards  long  and  their  hair  curled. 
Compliments  pass,  in  oriental  style.  Abraham  is  made 
welcome, as  a  great  man,  to  choose  any  of  their  sepulchres;^ 

But  Arba  is  the  Accadian  numeral,  four,  and  as  the  Accadian  and 
Babylonian  gods  had  numerical  symbols,  it  is  thought  that  the 
god  Sarru-ikde^,  whose  number  was  four,  may  have  been  intended 
by  it  as  applied  to  Hebron,  which  would  thus  mean  "the  city  of 
Sarra-ikdu."  The  habitual  concealment  of  the  Divine  name  in 
the  East,  and  the  fact  that  there  are  various  cities  called  Arba, 
seems  to  favour  this  interpretation.  '," 

1  Trans,  Soc.  Bib.  Arch.,  vol.  v.  p.  28. 

'  Gen.  xxiii.  18. 

•  An  Arab  gives  his  house,  field,  horse,  to-day  as  in  Abraham's 
time,  to  an  intending  buyer,  and  appeals  to  witnesses  that  he  does 


[ 


Abraham's  second  residence  in  canaan. 


103 


iway  at 
ng  such 
he  tribe 
an  out- 
braham 
ouching 
lan   the 
of  the 
)mes  at 
rostrat- 
long  so 
erinent, 
id/'  and 
ars  was 
Bntative 
>lace  for 
r.  Sayce 
iOrthern 
who  in 
1  gate,' 
<y  reach- 
curled. 
s  made 
Ichres;^ 

[iian  and 
that  the 
intended 
3  city  of 
name  in 
id  Arba, 


raham*s 
he  does 


a  gracious,  though  perhaps  only  a  formal  courtesy,  which 
Abraham  acknowledges,  like  an  Arab,  by  bowing  low. 
But  he  is  too  much  a  man  of  the  world  to  leave  such  a 
matter  so  loosely,  and  in  strictly  Eastern  fashion,  which 
transacts  even  a  marriage  through  third  parties,  ask  a 
their  mediation  with  the  owner  for  the  legal  purchase  of 
the  cave  of  Machpelah  and  the  field  in  which  it  stood. 
These,  in  the  end,  he  formally  buys  for  four  hundred 
silver  shekels,  duly  weighed  out;  as  money  still  is  in 
China,  and  as  it  was  till  lately  in  India,  to  secure  its  being 
due  weight,^  and  thus  current  with  the  traders  of  the  town. 
All  this,  moreover,  is  done  in  public,  before  the  gate,  that 
the  attestation  of  eye-witnesses  may  not  be  wanting ; 
written  documents  not  being  as  yet  in  use,  in  these  parts, 
in  such  cases.^ 

The  cave  thus  bought  four  thousand  years  ago,  lies 
on  the  east  edge  of  Hebron,  where  an  ancient  Christian 
church,  built  over  it,  is  now  turned  into  a  mosque,  which 
the  Turks  guard  sacredly  against  any  intrusion.  Even 
the  Crown  Prince  of  Germany  and  our  Prince  of  Wales 
could  gain  entrance  only  to  the  upper  storey,  where  there 
is  next  to  nothing  to  see ;  the  cave  lying  underneath, 
hidden  from  all  eyes.      The  mosque  is  a  right-angled 

so.  But  it  is  none  the  less  known  that  this  is  only  a  form  to  help 
him  to  raise  the  price  in  the  end.  "  What  is  that  between  me 
and  thee,"  is  still  a  standing  phrase  on  such  occasions,  as  it  was 
4,000  years  ago. 

*  To  weigh  money  was  a  Chaldean  custom  as  well  as  a 
Canaanite.  The  very  words  are  the  same  in  Assyrian  and 
Hebrew.  Shekel  =  side  =  weight ;  as  pondus— weight  =  pound. 
Bawlinson's  Cuneiform  Inscriptions,  vol.  ii.  p.  113. 

'  All  the  men  of  the  place  gather  round  contracting  parties  at 
the  gate  of  an  Eastern  town  or  village,  the  usual  place  of  as- 
sembling, and  take  part  in  the  transaction,  finally  acting  aa 
witnesses  to  it.    A  bargain  thus  confirmed  is  indisputable. 


U 


'•■ft 


\m^ 


'i   *l 


■a  1 


i" 


404        Abraham's  second  residence  in  canaan. 

building,  about  200  feet  long  by  115  broad,  and  consists, 
in  its  lower  part,  of  gigantic  marble- like  bevelled  stones, 
some  of  them  12  feet  long  and  5  feet  in  breadth;  one, 
indeed,  being  no  less  than  38  feet  in  length.  This 
portion  is  the  moat  ancient  and  the  finest  relic  of  Jewish 
architecture,  for  it  dates  from  the  early  Jewish  ages,  and 
remains  a  proof  of  the  jeafous  care  taken  by  ue  Hebrews 
of  the  graves  of  their  venerated  fathers.*  The  cave 
itself,  as  its  name  tells  us,  is  double,^  one  rising  over  the 
other,  divided  by  an  artificial  floor ;  the  upper  one  alone 
being  ever  entered,  and  that  only  by  the  chief  minister 
of  the  mosque,  for  prayer,  in  any  time  of  special  public 
calamity. 

An  outside  stair  leads  up  to  a  floor  above  the  level  of 
the  caves,  and  on  this  are  raised  empty  tombs,  as  monu- 
ments to  the  illustrious  dead  v/ho  lie  far  below.  Each  is 
enclosed  within  r*  separate  chapel  or  shrine,  closed  with 
gates  or  railings;  those  of  the  tombs  of  Abraham  and 
Sarah,  of  silver.  The  shrine  of  Abraham  is  cased  in 
marble,  and  contains  a  so-called  tomb,  raised  about  six 
feec  high,  and  hung  >vith  three  carpets,  embroidered  with 
gold.  The  "  tombs  '*  of  Isaac,  Kebecca,  Jacob  and  Leah 
are  also  shown,  but  are  much  like  that  of  Abraham, 
though  less  rich.  No  men  are  permitted  to  enter  the 
"  tombs  "  of  the  women.^ 

Only  one  European,  Pierroti,  an  Italian  architect  in 
the  service  of  the  Sultan,  has  ever  seen  more  than  the 
floor  of  the  upper  chamber,  with  its  six  tawdry  erections, 

*  Furrer's  Paldstina,  ip  86.    Land  and  Booh,  p.  580. 

'  Machpelah  =  double.  M.  Pierroti  has  proved  that  it  is  really 
a  double  cave. 

^  Stanley's  Jewish  Church,  vol.  1.  p.  495.  Eosen,  Die  Patriarcl:^ 
migruft  zu  Hebron,  passim,  Guerin,  Description  de  la  FalesUne, 
vol.  iii.  pp.  214-256. 


N 


I    ^i' 


\ 


ABHAHAM  8   SECOND    RESIDENCE   IN    CANAAN. 


405 


pi  need   there   ia   accordance    with   a    practice    usual    in 
Mahometan    sepulchres.      Pierroti,     daringly     pressing 
after   the   chief   Santon  or  priest  of  the   mosque,  when 
he  was  entering  the  lower  storey  on  a  special  occasion, 
found  the  entry  was  by  a  horizontal  door  in  the  porch. 
First  a  carpet,  then  a  grated  iron  door,  was  lifted ;  after 
which  a  narrow  stair  appeared,  cut  in  the  rock.     Unde- 
terred by  blows  and  violence,  he  managed  to  descend  this 
far  enough  to  see  into  the  lower  cavern  in  a  northern 
direction,  and  to  notice  sarcophagi  of  white  stone ;  the 
true  tombs  of  some  of  the  illustrious  dead,  in  striking 
corroboration   of  the  statement  of  Josephus,  that  they 
were  of  fair  marble,  exquisitely  wrought,,^      There  can 
be  little   doubt,   indeed,  that  the  remains  of   the  three 
generations   of   patriarchs  and  their  wives,  Rachel  alone 
excepted,  still  lie  safely  in  this  their  venerable  sepulchre. 
Abraham,  now  left  alone,  was  fast  becoming  a  very  old 
man,  for  he  was  a  hundred  and  thirty-seven  when  Sarah 
died ;  and  it  was  all  important  to  get  a  fitting  wife  for 
Isaac,  that  heirs  to  the  promise,  nine  times  confirmed  by 
God,  should  not  fail.     Slowly  but  isurely  everything  had 
hitherto  helped  on  its  fulfilment — the  beparation  of  the 
patriarch  from  his  father's  hous«  and  from  idolatry ;  the 
seal  of  circumcision,  setting  him  and  his  for  ever  apart 
from  the  nations  around ;  the  birth  of  Isaac ;  the  sending 
away  of  Ishmael.      Isaac  was  clearly  the  chosen  of  God, 
but  it  was  all  important  that  his  future  wife  should  be  of 
his  father's  stock,^  and  not  an  idolatrous  Canaanite,  and 
no  less  so  that  he  should  not  leave  the  country  which  God 
had  given  him  as  an  inheritance. 

•  Pierroti,  Machpela  (Lausanne,  1869),  p  93.    Jos.,  Ant,  i.  14 
«  They  always  marry  in   their  own    tribe,  not    allowing   any 

member  of   it   to  marry    into   another.    Seetzen,  Beisen  durch 

Syrien,  vol.  iii.  p.  22. 


' 

i 

■  j 

' 

I 

1 

( 

i'. 

i! 

1 

1 , 


k 


P:     » 


406 


Abraham's  second  residence  in  canaan. 


Cain 


ling  therefore  his  head  slave,  the  most  confidential 
of  his  servants, — perhaps  Eliezer — he  tells  him  ail  his 
mind,  and  commissions  him  to  set  out  for  Mesopotamia, 
"  Aram  of  the  two  rivers,"  to  the  old  home  of  the  tribe, 
to  seek  a  bride ;  but  first  requires  him  to  swear  an  oath 
with  a  form  used  by  Jacob  long  afterwards^  and  still  com- 
mon among  Arabs,  to  act  strictly  according  to  his  master's 
commands.  It  seems  as  if  Abraham  had  not  expected  to 
live  till  his  return,  for  he  gives  him  full  power  to  carry 
out  the  whole  matter  in  every  detail. 

Taking  ten  camels,  for  himself  and  those  who  went 
with  him  j  for  the  necessaries  of  the  road,  the  gifts  to  be 
presented,  and  the  use  of  the  bride  on  the  return ;  the 
trusty  messenger  sped  forthwith  on  his  long  journey, 
past  Damascus,  then  east  to  the  Euphrates,  and  south  to 
Harran,  "  the  city  of  Nahor."  There,  Arab  like,  he 
makes  his  camels  kneel  outside  the  town,  beside  the 
spring  always  found  close  to  Eastern  cities  or  enca.^p- 
ments,  and,  indeed,  fixing  their  locality ;  and  waits,  for 
it  is  towards  evening,  till  the  women  and  maidens  come 
out,  as  they  still  do,  to  draw  water  overnight  for  their 
household  needs. 

Devout,  as  became  the  servant  of  such  a  mastor,  he 
commits  the  whole  matter  to  God,  praying  that  the 
courtesy  of  the  appointed  damsel  might  be  the  providen- 
tial hint  to  guide  him.  Presently  the  daughters  and 
the  wives  of  the  town  gather  round  the  well,  and  among 
them  a  maiden  fair  to  look  on — her  pitcher  on  her 
shoulder — as  was  still  long  afterwards  the  custom  with 
the  Hebrews,  and  as  is  universal  with  Arab  women  still.  A 

*  Gen.  xlvii.  29.  The  meaning  of  this  form  has  been  much 
discussed,  but  the  best  explanation  seems  to  be  that  it  had  refer- 
ence to  an  implied  responsibility  tc  posterity  for  the  fulfilment 
of  the  oath.     Buxtorf  s  Lex.  Talt  p.  680. 


r 


AN. 

Donfidentiai 
lim  ail  his 
!Sopotamia, 
the  tribe, 
3ar  an  oath 
i  still  com- 
lis  master's 
expected  to 
er  to  carry 

who  went 
gifts  to  be 
eturn;  the 
g  journey, 
d  south  to 
b  like,  he 
beside  the 
>r  enca^p- 

waits,  for 
idens  come 
i  for  their 

mastt^r,  he 
that  the 
providen- 
:hters  and 
i-nd  among 
3r  on  her 
stom  with 
en  still.  A 

been  much 

b  had  refer- 
9  fulfilmeiit 


Abraham's  second  residence  in  canaan*        407 

friendly  request  for  some  water  receives  her  kindly 
answer,  and  even  an  offer  to  draw  water  for  the  catnela 
as  well ;  lor  the  daughters  even  of  sheiks  were  wont  to  do 
this  office  for  their  father's  flocks  and  beasts,  as  in  the 
case  of  Jethro'a  daughters  in  Midian.  The  sign  that  had 
been  asked  seems  granted ;  the  appointed  one  must  be 
before  him.  Taking  a  golden  nose-ring  and  two  golden 
armlets,  he  puts  them  on  her,  in  acknowledgment  of  her 
politeness,  asking  her  parentage,  and  whether  he  can 
lodge  at  her  father's.  Then  comes  the  intimation  that 
she  is  Nahor's  grand-daughter,  and,  thus,  directly  of 
Abraham's  kindred,  and  with  this,  the  assurances  of 
entertainment  as  wished,  for  both  himself  and  his  camels. 
Hastening  home  to  the  women's  part  of  the  house,  she 
shows  the  golden  gifts  and  tells  the  story,  in  the  hearing 
of  her  brother  Laban.  Always  keen  and  grasping,  the 
sight  of  gold  quickens  his  hospitality,  and  running  to  the 
well,  he  presses  the  stranger  to  return  with  him.  He  had 
prepared  the  house,  he  said,  and  made  room  in  the  yard 
for  the  camels. 

The  great  beasts  ungirdod,  fed,  and  littered,  water  is 
provided  for  the  washing  of  the  stranger's  feet  and  those 
of  his  men — a  first  duty  of  hospitality,  where,  sandals  only . 
being  worn,  the  heat  and  dust  make  such  refreshment  un- 
speakably grateful.  Food  is  then  set  before  him.  But 
he  cannot  taste  it  till  his  errand  is  told.  From  polite- 
ness he  had  not  been  asked  either  respecting  himself  or 
his  master.  Now,  however,*  he  repeats  all  that  Abraham 
Lad  said  to  him,  word  by  word,  adding  that  the  damsel 
who  had  acted  so  courteously  to  him  at  the  well  was 
assuredly  the  bride  intended  by  God  for  Isaac,  and  con- 
cluding by  a  direct  and  business-like  request  to  know 
whether  he  might  have  her  for  him.  llebekah  herself  is 
not  consulted,  for,  in  the  East,  the  consent  of  the  maiden 


Ml 


: 


f  ii 


r 


I 


408 


ABRAHAM'S   SECOND    RESIDENCE    IN   CANAAN. 


18  never  sought;  her  marriage  is  settled  by  others  for  her. 
Father  and  mother  must  agree  to  the  betrothal,  but  it  is 
also  necessary  that  Laban  sanction  it ;'  for  daughters  can- 
not be  married  among  Arab  tribes,  even  now,  except  with 
the  approval  of  their  brothers,  and  Laban  was  not  the  man 
to  stand  back  in  a  matter  involving  money.  Betiiuel,  the 
father,  keeps  in  the  background,  therefore,  throughout, 
leaving  his  eager  pushing  son  to  settle  the  matter ;  but 
both  parents  forthwith  give  a  ready  consent  to  the  match. 
"  Behold,  Rebekah  is  before  thee,  take  her,  and  go,  and 
let  her  be  thy  master's  son's  wife,  as  the  Lord  hath 
spoken/'  The  whole  cransaccion  was  thus  settled  within 
perhaps  an  hour  of  the  arrival  at  Harran.  The  sight  of 
the  ten  camels,  and  of  the  golden  presents  for  so  slight 
a  courtesy  as  Rebekah  had  shown,  were  arguments  too 
strong  to  admit  of  hesitation  in  the  answer. 

Thanking  God  once  more,  with  lowly  prostration  on 
the  earth,  nothing  now  remained  but  to  seal  the  betrothal 
by  the  customary  gifts  to  the  bride  elect,  and  by  paying 
the  purchase  price  for  her  to  her  brother  and  mother. 
Forthwith,  therefore,  gold  and  silver  ornaments,  so  dear 
to  maidens,  and  costly  clothes,  are  brought  out  and 
handed  to  Rebekah,  as  from  her  future  husband;  for 
such  gifts  were  demanded  by  custom  from  bridegrooms 
on  their  betrothal,  to  make  the  agreement  binding. 
To  Laban  and  his  mother  equally  precious  gifts  are  also 
presented,  as  tbe  price  paid  for  the  maiden,  and  all  is 
arranged  without  Rebekah  being  consulted.  Nothing 
remains  but  to  take  her  to  her  future  distant  Home. 

Eager  to  carry  back  the  news  of  his  success,  the  faith- 

»  Gen.  xxxiv.  11.  When  the  father  lived  in  polygamy,  full 
brothers  had  greafc  authority  in  reference  to  their  full  sisters;  more 
even  than  their  father.  The  case  of  Dinah  at  Shechem  further 
illuuirutos  this.    Michaelis,  Mas.  lieclit,  vol.  ii.  p.  98.   . 


1 1 


ers  for  her, 
,1,  but  it  13 
ghters  can- 
3xcept  with 
lot  the  man 
3ethuel,  the 
throughout, 
aatter;  but 
>  the  match. 
>iid  go,  and 
Lord  hath 
ttled  within 
^he  sight  of 
or  so  slight 
aments  too 

)stration  on 
le  betrothal 
I  by  paying 
^nd  mother, 
ats,  so  dear 
it  out  and 
sband ;  for 
)ridegrooms 
it  binding, 
ifts  are  also 
t  and  all  is 
Nothing 
lome. 
s,  the  faith- 

jlygamy,  full 
sisters ;  more 
Qliem  farther 


Abraham's  second  residence  in  canaan. 


409 


ful  envoy  next  morning  presses  for  leave  to  set  out  on  his 
return.  But  the  whole  matter  is  only  a  few  hours  old ; 
will  he  not  stay  a  few  days,  to  let  the  bride  bid  farewell 
to  her  father's  house  ?  It  is  left  to  Rebekah  herself  to 
decide ;  and  she,  cold  and  strong-willed,  eager  to  enter  on 
the  new  life  which  glittered  before  her,  only  too  readily 
agrees  to  leave  at  once.  An  Arab  wife  has  no  outfit,  for 
her  husband  provides  all  she  needs,  and  so  she  mounts  her 
camel  forthwith,  and  leaves  her  father's  house  for  ever, 
with  the  stranger  whom  she  had  first  met  only  overnight. 
Yet  she  must  start  in  a  way  befitting  the  daughter  of  a 
wealthy  sheik.  Her  nurse,  still  an  Arab  woman's  com- 
panion and  cherished  friend,  must  go  with  her,  and  she 
must  take  some  slave-girls  also,  as  her  dowry.  Thus  ac- 
companied, the  camel  specially  brought  from  Beershoba 
for  her  use,  and  doubtless  provided  with  a  bridal  throne 
in  gaudy  Eastern  fashion,  bears  her  off ; .  and  she  moves 
away  amidst  good  wishes,  culminating  in  the  dearest  to 
an  Eastern  woman's  heart,  that  she  may  be  the  mother  of 
countless  descendants,  who  should  hold  the  gates — that  is, 
the  towns — of  their  vanquished  enemies. 
•  Isaac,  now  forty  years  of  age,  always  gentle,  had  ap- 
parently remained  unmarried  till  now,  to  please  his  mother, 
with  whom  he  had  lived  till  her  death.  Still  feeling  her 
loss,  over  three  years  before,  he  had  gone  out  to  the  open 
downs  near  his  father's  tents,  in  the  cool  evening ;  perhaps 
in  a  meditative  mood,  perhaps  only  to  look  after  his 
men  and  his  flocks.  It  was  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the 
spring,  called,  long  years  before,  by  Hagar,  Lahai  roi, 
"  the  Spring  of  the  Living  One  who  sees  me,"^  for  a 
camp  was  always,  as  I  have  said,  near  a  supply  of  water. 
Suddenly  Rebekah  appears  in  the  distance,  and  as  she 
comes  near,  alight^  from  her  cauiel  on  seeing   a  man, 

*  Gen.  xvi.  14. 


:^/i| 


410 


Abraham's  second  residencjc  in  canaan. 


as  custom  still  demands  in  the  East,  to  do  him  reverence. 
But  the  stranger  is  no  other  than  Isaac,  and  she  veils  her 
face  as  she  learns  the  fact ;  for  the  husband  must  not  see 
his  bride  till  they  are  finally  alone.  The  servant's  story 
reveals  the  rest,  and  the  tent  of  Sarah,  now  long  without 
a  mistress,  receives  a  new  one ;  Isaac's  wife. 

From  the  marriage  of  Abraham  with  Keturah  in  his 
old  age,  there  sprang,  we  are  told,  six  sons,  who  became 
the  fathers  of  as  many  Arab  tribes.  But,  like  Ishmael, 
these  possible  rivals  of  Isaac  were  not  allowed  to  remain 
with  the  heir  of  the  great  promise ;  receiving  gifty  from 
their  father,  they  were  sent  away  to  the  open  lands  which 
invited  them  on  the  east.  No  more  Is  recorded  of  the 
patriarch  but  his  death,  and  his  burial  beside  Sarah  in 
the  cave  ^f  Machpelah;  Isaac  and  his  peaceful  shepherds, 
joining  with  Ishmael,  and  his  warlike  followers  from  the 
desert,  after  long  separation,  as  chief  mourners,  both 
equally  honouring  their  common  father. 

Abraham's  character  merits  the  tribute  paid  it  in  all 
ages.  Its  strength  is  seen  in  the  choice  of  Jehovah  as 
his  God  when  all  around  were  idolaters,  and  in  his 
grand  loyalty  to  Him  amidst  every  temptation.  Neither 
disappointment,  nor  delay,  nor  the  strain  of  the  sternest 
demands,  for  a  moment  shook  his  faith.  Knowing  Him 
in  whom  he  believed,  he  trusted  Him  with  an  immoveable 
confidence.  Nor  was  his  bearing  less  worthy  towards 
his  fellow  men.  Though  the  elder,  he  gives  the  choice  to 
Lot  when  the  two  must  part ;  willing,  for  peace  and 
kindliness,  to  take  contentedly  what  his  nephew  leaves. 
He  is  too  magnanimous  to  claim  the  spoil  which  war  had 
made  his,  after  the  defeat  of  the  kings,  Jbut  renders  the 
great  service  freely,  without  reward.  If  Hagar  and 
Ishmael  live  ill  at  ease  with  Sarah,  they  have  no  such  feel- 
ing towards  him ;  for  they  knew  how  unwilling  he  had  been 


H 


ABRAHAM'S   SECOND   BESIDfiNCE   IN   CANAAN. 


411 


verence, 

veils  lier 

not  see 

's  story 

without 

,li  in  his 
)  became 
Islimael, 
o  remain 
fti?  from 
ds  which 
d  ci  the 
Sarah  in 
lepherds, 
from  the 


ers, 


both 


it  in  all 
hovah  as 
d    in    his 

Neither 
3  sternest 
ring  Him 
moveable 
■  towards 
choice  to 
eace  and 
w  leaves. 
1  war  had 
nders  the 
agar  and 
such  feel- 
)  had  been 


to  send  them  away,  and  must  have  seen  how  the  heatt 
clung  to  them,  which  broke  out  in  the  fatherly  prayor, 
"  O  that  Ishmael  might  live  before  thee."  The  pity  even 
for  the  unworthy  that  marks  his  intercession  for  Sodom  is 
a  lesson  for  every  ago.  His  bearing  to  the  three  mys- 
terious strangers  under  the  oaks  of  Mamre  is  the  ideal 
of  patriarchal  courtesy  and  hospitality.  He  runs  to  meet 
them,  and  bowing  low,  begs  them  to  let  him  entertain 
them,  and  himself  hastens  the  meal.^  That  he  should 
have  maintained  relations  so  friendly  with  the  races  among 
whom  he  lived  at  Shechem,  Bethel,  and  Hebron,  speaks 
for  his  prudence,  integrity,  and  neighbourly  worth.  No 
wonder  that  his  descendants,  regarding  him  at  once  in 
his  relations  to  God  and  to  his  fellow  men,  should  speak 
of  him  as  "incomparable  in  his  generation,"  or  that 
they  have  fabled  of  him,  that,  in  Jeremiah's  day,  when 
the  temple  had  been  destroyed,  Abraham's  form  was 
seen  over  the  ruins,  his  hands  uplifted,  pleading  with  God 
for  the  sons  of  his  people  led  off  to  captivity.^ 

*  Each  part  in  this  picture  is  true  to  Arab  life.  The  washing 
of  the  feet  is  the  first  act  of  politeness  shown  to  guests,  and  indeed 
was  so  even  in  ancient  Greek  life  {Odijss.,  vi.  207),  and  is  still  so 
among  the  Hindoos.  Bread  is  prepared  each  day  by  fire  on  a  rock 
till  it  is  heated  enough  to  bp,le  in  a  few  minutes  the  thin  cakes 
in  use,  or  on  an  iron  plate,  oi  on  a  fire  of  wood  or  dried  camel's 
dung.  The  greatest  sheik  th  nks  it  no  dishonour  himself  to  run 
to  the  herd  for  a  lamb  for  his  quests,  and  to  kill  it  with  his  own 
hands,  while  his  wife  is  kindl-ng  the  fire  and  preparing  to  make 
the  meal  ready.  As  to  the  oiiickness  with  which  the  slain  calf 
was  cooked,  Arabs  and  all  eastern  peoples  constantly  cook  the 
creatures  they  have  killed  for  food,  immediately  after  death; 
the  hot  climate  requiring  this.  See  Eosenmiiller's  A.  und  N. 
Morgenland,  vol.  i.  p.  71.  Hanna,  in  Bib.  Educator^  vol.  i.  p.  42. 
Vigouroux,  vol.  i.  p.  437.     Land  and  Book,  p.  446. 

2  Beer's  Leben  Abraham,  p.  88. 


-it" 

r,  f 


I  i 


h 


i 


CHAPTER    XXIII. 

ISAAC   AND   HIS   SONS. 

IT  IS  strange  to  think  what  a  great  part  the  descendanta 
of  the  Chaldean  shepherd,  Terah,  l:ave  played  in  the 
history  of  the  world.  Those  of  Nahor  gradually  formed 
a  groat  kingdom  which  only  passed  away  before  the 
rising  power  of  Syria  and  the  fierce  attacks  of  Edom.* 
The  twelve  tribes,  sprung  from  Ishmael,  scattered  them- 
selves over  the  vast  pasture  and  desert  regions  of  Arabia, 
Syria,  Mesopotamia,  the  shores  of  the  Persian  Gulf,  and 
the  east  of  the  «Tordan.  The  sons  of  Keturah,  in  the 
same  way,  grew  into  similar  tribes,  to  whom  the  desert 
solitudes  have  ever  since  been  the  chosen  home.  The 
Arab  race,  indeed,  over  the  world,  are  the  posterity  of 
Nahor  and  Abraham.  Nor  have  they  been  without  their 
great  part  on  the  stage  of  the  world,  for  it  is  to  an  Arab 
that  more  than  200,000,000  of  men  look  to-day  as  the 
great  prophet  of  God,  and  the  empire  they  founded  in 
the  first  days  of  Mahometanism  stretched  from  India  to 
the  Straits  of  Gibraltar,  and  by  its  culture  and  civilization 
prepared  the  way  for  the  revival  of  Letters  in  Western 
Europe.  -  , 

But  the  supreme  interest  of  mankind  centres  in  the 
Hebrew,  no.t  in  the  Arab  descendants  of  Abraham. 


*  Ewald,  vol.  i.  p.  445. 

411 


> 


ISAAC   AND    HIS   SONS. 


413 


escendants 
yed  in  the 
illy  formed 

before  the 

of  Edom.i 
)red  thera- 

of  Arabia, 
i  Gulf,  and 
'ah,  in  the 

the  deserfc 
Lome.  The 
)0sterity  of 
ithout  their 
to  an  Arab 
day  as  the 
founded  in 
n  India  to 
civilization 
n  Western 

ires  in  the 
lam. 


Isaac,  his  heir,  is  at  once  a  counterpart  of  his  preat 
father  in  simple  devoutnoss  and  purity  of  life,  and  a  con- 
trast in  his  passive  weakness  of  character;  which,  in  part 
at  least,  may  have  sprung  from  his  relations  to  hia  mother 
and  wife.  After  the  expulsion  of  Ishmael  and  lla«^ar, 
Isaac  had  no  competitor,  and  grew  up  in  the  shade  of 
Sarah's  tent,  moulded  into  feminine  softness  by  habitual 
submission   to   her   strong   loving   will.     It  i  3  in 

keeping  with  such  a  history  that  Isaac  mourned  her  for 
years  after  her  death,  and  was  diverted  from  his  grief  only 
by  his  marriage.  No  sorrow  in  the  East  is  greater  than 
that  of  a  son  for  his  mother,  and  Isaac,  an  only  child, 
clung  to  his  with  all  the  tenderness  of  a  soft  and  de- 
pendent nature. 

The  choice  of  Rebekah  as  his  wife  was  dictated  at  once 
by  the  desire  of  the  Arab  race  to  keep  the  blood  of  their 
tribe  pure,  and  by  Abraham's  determination  to  separate 
his  posterity,  as  the  chosen  people  of  God,  from  the 
idolatrous  Canaanites.  But  she  can  hardly  be  regarded 
as  an  amiable  woman.  When  we  first  see  her  she  is 
ready  to  leave  her  father's  house  for  ever  at  an  hour's 
notice,  and  her  future  life  showed  not  only  a  full  share  of 
her  brother's  duplicity,  but  the  grave  fault  of  partiality 
in  her  relations  to  her  children,  and  a  strong  will  which 
soon  controlled  the  gentler  nature  of  her  husband. 
Married  at  the  age  of  forty,  Isaac  presently  surrendered 
himself  to  her  influence,  as  he  had  hitherto  done  to  that 
of  his  parents.  Her  name,  "The  Enchainer,"*  may 
indeed,  have  been  a  tribute  to  her  charms,  but  it  equally 
expressed  her  relations  to  her  husband.  Wholly  devoted 
to  her,  in  an  age  when  Abraham  and  Jacob  alike  had 
concubines,  and  notwithstanding   her   childlessness   for 

*  Literally,  "the  noosed  cord,"  i.e.,  the  mancatc)vor. 


I''  ' 


■ "  t 


Ml 

1  '■ 


'H 


,v^K  'I 


m 


.vl] 


414 


ISAAC   AND    nrs   SONS. 


twenty  years,  the  pair  have  always  been  the  Hebrew  ideal 
of  cliasto  married  life. 

>}o  career  could  have  been  more  uneventful  than  Isnac's; 
but  it  allows  at  least,  that  a  path  of  modest  retirement  may 
honour  God  as  much  as  one  of  prominent  action.  So 
quiet  and  unenergetic,  that  his  whole  life  was  spent  in  the 
circle  of  a  few  miles  ;  so  guileless,  that  he  lets  Jacob  over- 
reach him  rather  than  disbelieve  his  assurance;  so  tender, 
that  his  mother's  death  was  the  poignant  sorrow  of  years, 
and  that  in  his  blind  old  age  he  must  have  Esau  kiss  him 
when  he  came  near;  so  patient  and  gentle,  that  peace 
with  his  neighbours  was  dearer  than  even  such  a  coveted 
possession  as  a  well  of  living  water  dug  by  his  own  men ; 
so  grandly  obedient,  that  he  put  his  life  at  his  father's 
disposal ;  so  firm  in  his  relianco  on  God,  that  his  greatest 
concern  through  life  was  to  honour  the  Divine  promise 
given  to  his  race ;  so  devout  in  lis  unwavering  loyalty  to 
the  faith  of  Abraham — it  is  easj  to  understand  why  even 
our  Lord's  authority  is  vouchsafed  for  his  having  passed 
from  earth  to  heaven  at  his  death. 

Of  Ishmael,  his  half-brother,  little  is  told  us.  From 
his  childhood  till  he  was  a  grown  lad  he  had  been  re- 
garded as  the  future  chief  of  his  father's  tribe.  The 
pride  and  delight  of  Abraham,  who  was  over  eighty 
when  this  his  first  son  was  born,  he  doubtless  had  been 
caressed  and  flattered  by  old  and  young.  But  the  birth 
of  Isaac  had  in  a  moment  disinherited  him,  and  left  both 
him  and  his  mother  once  more  the  mere  personal  slaves 
of  Sarah,  now  their  bitter  enemy.  That  Hagar  had  lost 
her  head  at  her  elevation  as  the  mother  of  Abraham's 
only  son,  was  natural ;  and  doubtless  she  fancied  herself 
far  above  the  cliiidless  Sarah  in  his  regards ;  but  to  both, 
the  change  must  have  been  terrible  when  banished  from 
the  encampment.     Nor  was  there  anything  to  soften  the 


ISAAC    AND    HIS    SONS. 


416 


)row  ideal 

n  Isaac's; 
moiit  may 
tion.     So 
ent  in  the 
icob  o ver- 
so tender, 
of  years, 
kiss  him 
liat  peace 
a  coveted 
own  men; 
IS  father's 
is  greatest 
e  promise 
loyalty  to 
why  even 
ag  passed 

IS.     From 
been  re- 
ibe.     The 
er  eighty 
had  been 
the  birth 
left  both 
lal  slaves 
'  had  lost 
-braham's 
d  herself 
'j  to  both, 
led  from 
3ften  the 


blow.  Kotnrah's  sons,  at  a  later  time,  wore  sont  off  with 
a  gift  of  flocks  and  hords,  but  Ishtimol  and  his  mother 
hud  no  more  than  a  skin  of  water  and  some  bread. 

Hard  as  it  must  have  boon  to  Abrahatn  tlms  to  send 
away  his  first-born,  it  must  have  been  harder  still  for 
both  mother  and  son  to  be  thus  turned  adrift  in  tijo 
desert,  to  make  their  way  to  some  friendly  tonts;  and  it 
is  no  wonder  that  the  remembrance  of  their  sufferings, 
before  they  found  such  a  refuge,  glowed  in  the  heart  of 
the  lad.  Embittered  at  the  insult  to  his  mother,  and 
at  his  own  wrongs,  he  hencefortb  proudly  cast  oil'  all 
relations  to  his  father's  tribe,  and  from  the  heir  expec- 
tant of  a  quiet  pastoral  encampment,  grow  up  into  tliG 
mere  wandering  Arab,  relying  on  his  bow  and  spear,  his 
hand  against  every  man  and  every  man's  hand  against 
him. 

Circumstances,  indeed,  made  this  natural.  The  open 
sweep  of  the  desert  fanned  the  lovo  of  its  wild  freedom 
into  a  passion ;  forced  him  to  depend  on  the  chase  for 
his  living;  exposed  him  to  danger  from  hostile  tribes 
and  from  beasts  of  prey ;  and  the  dull  sense  of  wrong, 
withal,  kept  him  aloof  from  mankind,  except  when  he 
swooped  down  on  the  passing  caravan,  or  the  unsuspect- 
ing encampment,  for  plunder. 

Yet  the  simple  shepherd  life  amidst  which  he  had 
grown  up,  must  have  been  early  adopted  by  him  and  his 
people  in  a  measure ;  for  we  find  the  Hazeroth,  or  "circles" 
formed  by  the  tents  of  a  tribe  round  its  flocks,  among 
the  characteristics  of  his  family.^  But  he  had  little  taste 
for  a  peaceful  life.  As  in  Esau's  case,  the  wilder  side  of 
Arab  nature  was  strongest  in  him,  and  his  bent  must 
always  have  been  towards  stir  and  adventure  rather  than 
quiet   and   unexciting   employments.      In  boyhood  and 

*  Geo.  XXV.  16.    The  word  is  wrongly  translated  *'  towns." 


m 


J:'.?  if 


If 


I 


[ 


t 


I 


416 


ISAAC    AND    HIS    SONS. 


early  youth  the  darling  of  Abraham,  he  had  become  self- 
willed  and  impatient  of  restraint.  High  spirited  and 
fond  of  listening  at  the  watchfires  of  his  father's  herds- 
men, to  their  stories  offends  and  encounters  with  hostile 
neighbours  at  the  wells,  or  with  the  freebooters  of  the 
desert;  he  had  early  become  enamoured  of  the  excitement 
of  border  life  on  the  open  wastes.  The  chase  of  the 
gazelle  or  the  wild  goat,  and  the  more  dangerous  pursuit 
of  the  bear  or  the  leopard,  had  doubtless  in  early  youth 
inured  him  to  exertion  and  adventure,  and  the  taste  for 
it  clung  to  him  through  li^e.  His  aptest  emblem  was  to 
be  the  wild  ass  of  the  desert,^  that  no  man  can  tame  and 
that  scorns  the  multitude  of  the  city,*  and  delights  in  the 
far  off  pastures  of  the  wilderness. 

Of  his  future  history  little  is  told.  To  separate  him 
finally  from  Abraham's  tribe,  Hagar  sought  out  for  him 
an  Egyptian  wife;  a  countrywoman,  therefore,  of  her 
own.  As  the  great  emir's  son  he  would  doubtless  be 
received  with  consideration  by  the  tribe  he  joined,  and 
would  soon  find  himself  at  the  head  of  retainers  of  his 
own.  Tradition  speaks  of  his  having  married  a  daughter 
of  the  sheik  of  his  new  encampment ;  and  the  desert  was 
already  the  home  of  many  bands  of  nomades,  with  some 
of  whom  he  no  doubt  formed  alliances.^ 

When  Abraham  died  Ishmael  was  a  man  of  nearly  ninety 
and  had  long  been  a  great  desert  ch'ef.  He  reappears 
for  a  moment,  and  only  once,  at  the  pctoriarch's  burial,  at 
which  Isaac  and  he  met  once  morv3.  It  must  have  been 
a  striking  scene  when  the  two  brothers,  so  long  sepa- 
rated, united  to  pay  the  last  honours  to  one  equally  dear 
to  both,  and  showed  in  their  doing  so  their  high  sense 
of  his   worth.      Isaac,  with  his  hundreds  of   household 

*  Gen.  xvi.  12.    The  angel  says  he  will  be  "  a  wild  ass  mau  " 
«  c^ob  xxxix.  7.  »  Geu.  X.  25-30, 


ISAAC  AND   HIS   SONS. 


417 


ome  self- 
ited  and 
's  hords- 
h  hostile 
rs  of  the 
ccitement 
se  of  the 
s  pursuit 
rly  youth 
taste  for 
m  was  to 
tame  and 
its  in  the 

irate  him 
for  him 
,  of  her 
btless  be 
►ined,  and 
)rs  of  his 
daughter 
esert  was 
ith  some 

'ly  ninety 
•eappears 
burial,  at 
ave  been 
ng  sepa- 
laliy  dear 
gh.  sense 
Lousehold 


j  maij. 


t* 


slaves  ;  Ishmael,  with  his  troops  of  wild  retainers  and  half 
savage  allies,  in  all  the  state  of  a  Bedouin  prince,  gathered 
before  the  cave  of  Machpelah,  in  the  midst  of  the  men 
of  Heth,  to  pay  the  last  duties  to  the  Father  of  the 
Faithful,  would  make  a  notable  subject  for  an  artist. 

A  few  isolated  notices  sum  up  all  that  is  known,  be- 
sides, of  this  strange  wild  figure  of  old  times.  Sons  and 
daughters,  born  from  different  wives,  grew  into  great 
clans,  and  even  into  powerful  states ;  like  that  of  the 
Nabathaeans,  who,  four  centuries  before  Christ,  made 
Petra  the  capital  of  a  wide  kingdom  ;  and  that  of  the 
Ituraeans,  who,  hereafter,  were  to  dispute  with  Moses,  on 
the  east  of  the  Jordan,  for  the  possession  of  the  Hauran. 
A  strange  fate  linked  the  fortunes  of  Esau,  the  outcast 
of  Isaac's  household,  with  those  of  Ishmael,  the  outcast 
from  that  of  Abraham,  in  the  marriage  of  the  future 
father  of  the  Edomites  with  Mahalath,  "the  lyre,'' 
Ishmael's  daughter,  to  humour  Isaac  and  Rebekah's  wish 
for  marriage  into  the  same  stock.  Ishmael  was  then  an 
old  man  of  a  hundred  and  fourteen,  but  he  lived  twenty- 
three  years  more.  We  hear  nothing  more  oi  him, 
however,  than  that,  at  last,  he  wandered  farther  east 
than  any  of  the  encampments  of  his  sons  or  daughters.^ 
The  Ishmaelites,  indeed,  gradually  spread  from  the  Red 
Sea  to  the  Euphrates.*     Over  these  wide  desert  spaces 

»  The  phrase  "  he  died  in  the  presf  nee  of  all  his  brethren  " 
(Gen.  XXV.  18)  should  rather  be  aa  in  the  text.  Naphal,  "  to  fall," 
"  to  die,"  transslated  "died,"  means  also  to  "  set  oneself  down," 
"  to  dwell."  Th3  word  translated  '*  before,"  means  here,  t  nd  in 
Gen.  xxiii.  17,  "to  the  east."  In  Deut.  xxxii.  49,  the  same  phrase 
is  translated  "  over  against,"  but  it  should  be  "  east  of." 

2  Aut,  i.  12,  4.  Genesis  describes  the  limits  of  the  Ishmaelites, 
as  extending  in  open  villages  and  encampments  (translated 
"  towns  and  castles,"  ver.  16)  from  Havilah,  apparently  on  the 
African  coast,  as  far  south  as  Bab  el  Mandcb,  to   Shur,  east 

VOL.  I.  u   u 


^(1 


'H  f- 


%:f[ 


'.1    'I 


U^  fl 


418 


ISAAC  AND    HIS    SONS. 


1     .1 


I    ■ 


thty  have  roamed,  the  same  in  overy  age.  "No  one  of 
them/'  saya  Ammianus  Marcellin us,  writing  in  the  fourth 
century  of  our  era,  *'  ever  lays  hold  of  a  plough,  or 
plants  a  tree,  or  seeks  food  from  tilling  tbe  soil.  They 
wander  continually,  roaming  through  wide  tr  tcts,  without 
a  home,  without  fixed  dwellings,  without  laws.  Nor  do 
they  ever  stay  long  under  the  same  sky.  or  rest  satisfied 
long  with  any  district.  Their  life  is  spent  in  constant 
movement." 

Jacob  and  Esau,  the  twin  sons  of  Isaac  and  Eebekah, 
born  twenty  years  after  the  marriage  of  their  parents, 
when  Isaac  was  sixty,  present  a  striking  contrast,  alike 
in  character  and  ultimate  fortune.  Esau  is  frank  and 
generous ;  Jacob,  cvafty  and  mean.  Freehanded,  llght- 
hcE  rted,  and  careless,  the  shaggy  energetic  hunter  shows 
off  for  a  time  to  far  greater  advantage  than  the  plod- 
ding, qaiet,  astute  dweller  in  tents. 

But  a  closer  study  of  the  whole  lives  of  the  two  does 
not  support  this  earlier  estimate.  In  Jacob,  we  have  a 
struggle  against  baser  elements  of  c -laracter,  gradually  re- 
sulting in  the  triumph  of  the  nobler ;  in  Esau,  the  original 
good  darkens,  as  he  grows  older,  into  overmastering  evil. 
Nothing  seems  to  be  wanting  to  depreciate  Jacob.  He 
outwits  his  brother,  deceives  his  father,  and  seems  to 
make  a  bargain  even  in  his  prayer.  He  is  more  than  a 
match  for  Laban  in  craft,  and  returijs  Esau's  impulsive 
friendship,  when  they  meet,  with  cautious  distrust.  At 
Shechem,  he  thinks  only  of  the  possible  injury  to  himself 
that  may  follow  the  treachery  of  his  sons,  and  is  silent 
as  to  their  crime  ;  and  even  when  on  the  point  of  going 
to  Joseph,  he  is  suspicious  and  wary  to  the  last. 

Yet,  with  ail  these  abatements,  his  life,  seen  as  a  whole, 

of  (not  before)  Egypt,  in  the  direction  of  Assyria;    that   is,  in 
Northern  or  Stony  Arabia,  including  Petra.     Gm.  xxv.  18. 


ISAAC   AND   HIS   SONS. 


419 


To  ono  of 

le  fourth 

)ugh,    or 

1.     They 

without 

Nor  do 

satisfied 

constant 

Rebekah, 
parents, 
ast,  alike 
r-ank  and 
Bd,  llght- 
ter  shows 
the  plod- 

two  does 
e  have  a 
.dually  re- 
le  original 
jring  evil, 
cob.     He 

seems  to 
)re  than  a 
impulsive 
rust.  At 
to  himself 

is  silent 

of  going 

s  a  whole, 

bhat  is,  in 
.18. 


stands  in  a  far  higher  light  than  that  cf  his  brother.  If 
Esau  arrest  our  interest  at  first,  with  his  wild  rough  spirit, 
the  type  of  a  man  of  the  field — his  bow,  his  arrows  and  his 
spear  his  delight — hastening  to  chase  the  antelope  at  his 
fathe' '.»  desire,  and  bring  home  venison  for  his  pleasure  ; 
if  we  cannot  but  sympathise  with  him  in  his  "  great  and 
exceeding  bitter  cry,"  "  Bless  mo,  even  me  also,  O  my 
father,"  on  finding  himself  over-reached;  the  solid  quali- 
ties which  command  permanent  esteem  are  nevertheless 
wanting.  He  has  no  depth  of  nature,  lives  for  th^ 
moment,  carsii  nothing  for  higher  interests,  has  no  aim 
but  the  present  satisfaction  of  his  pleasures  or  bodily 
wants,  and  if  capable  of  generous  impulses  is  no  less  so 
of  plans  of  deepseated  revenge.  Open,  manly,  and  even 
at  times  magnanimous, — with  all  the  elements,  in  fact, 
that  might  have  ripened  into  a  splendid  character, — the 
want  of  solid  qualities  changes  him  gradually  into  a 
mere  Bedouin  chief,  living  by  war  and  plunder.  The 
race  of  Edom  which  sprang  from  him — fickle,  turbulent, 
false  and  unruly,  embodies  only  too  fully  his  worse  cha- 
racteristics. Their  homes  in  the  strong  defiles  of  Seir,  a 
fitting  seat  for  attacking  their  neighbours,  or  for  defence 
from  their  hatred,  are  themselves,  when  contrasted  with 
Jacob's  tents  in  the  open  country,  striking  commentaries 
on  the  respective  tendencies  of  the  two  brothers. 

In  Jacob,  on  the  other  hand,  we  see  the  best  as  well 
as  the  worst  qualities  of  his  race.  If  the  earlier  half 
of  his  life  shows  iDUch  that  is  unworthy,  even  through  it 
there  runs  that  thoughtful  foresight  and  steadfast 
pursuit  of  a  great  aim  which  alone  secure  lasting  and 
noble  results.  In  his  sin  against  Esau  and  his  father  in 
regard  to  the  birthright,  he  seeks  a  high  end  by  ignoble 
means ;  he  does  evil  that  good  may  come.  Its  supremo 
worth,  as  carrying  with  it  the  inheritance  of  the  Diviuo 


«i 


k'' 


'm 


itf  11 


:U 


i 


420 


ISAAC   AND   HIS   SONS. 


II: 


u 


'li 


promise,  was  little  esteemed  by  Esau.  "He  did  eat 
and  drink,  and  rose  up  and  went  his  way:  thus  Esau 
despised  his  birthright/'  A  short  delay,  at  most,  woula 
have  secured  him  food  in  his  father's  tents,  without  any 
sacrifice ;  ^  but  to  satisfy  his  hunger  on  the  moment  was 
more  to  a  mind  so  light  than  any  good  even  a  little 
way  off.  To  Jacob,  on  the  other  hand,  to  transmit  the 
promise  to  his  posterity,  as  the  chosen  race,  was  above  all 
things  precious.  Disdaining  useful  work,  Esau  chose  the 
busy  idleness  of  life  in  the  desert;  but  Jacob,  during 
long  years,  was  content  to  toil  on  patiently  with  settled 
purpose.  Through  prosperity  and  adversity  j  in  distant 
exile  and  after  his  return  ;  through  years  of  sorrow  and 
in  his  peaceful  decline,  the  steadfast  aim  of  his  life  never 
wavered.  Nor  did  he  show  a  less  noble  tenacity  in  other 
directions.  The  love  which  sprang  up  at  his  first  meeting 
with  Kachel  at  Laban's  well  made  the  seven  years  of 
hard  service  by  which  he  had  won  her  seem  but  a  few 
days ;  and  long  after  he  had  buried  her  on  the  way  to 
Eethlehem,  she  was  on  his  lips,  in  his  dying  words  to  her 
grandchildren.*  His  mother's  nurse,  whom  she  had 
brought  with  her  from  Harran,  drew,  in  her  declining 
years,  to  Jacob  rather  than  Esau,  and  the  grief  he  felt  at 
the  loss  of  such  a  link  to  the  past  was  seen  in  the  tree 
beneath  which  he  laid  her  being  henceforth  known  as 
*'  the  oak  of  weeping."  ^  Towards  Joseph  and  Benjamin, 
Rachel's  children,  his-  relations  were  equally  tender,  for 
the  very  thought  of  their  loss  seemed  as  if  it  would 
"  bring  hi^  grey  hairs  in  sorrow  to  the  grave." 

Nor  was  there  less  at  least  of  ultimate  worth  in  tho 

*  The  pottage  coveted  by  Esau  was  of  lentils,  a  species  of  vetch. 
The  red  lentil  is  considered  the  best.  It  is  generally  used  aa 
pottage  even  now.    Tristram's  Nat  Hist,  of  Bible,  p.  462. 

^  Gen.  xlviii,  7.  *  Gen  xxxv.  8. 


T»AAC  AND   HIS   SONS. 


421 


did  eat 

us  Esau 

it,  woula 

lout  any 

nent  was 

a  little 

smit  the 

above  all 

hose  the 

,  during 

h  settled 

n  distant 

rrow  and 

ife  never 

in  other 

meeting 

years  of 

lit  a  few 

e  way  to 

ds  to  her 

she    had 

declining 

he  felt  at 

I  the  tree 

cnown  as 

benjamin, 

nder,  for 

it  would 

)h  in  the 

s  of  vetch. 
\y  used  as 
2. 


higher  aspects  of  his  character.  When  he  started  frojn 
Bethel  for  Mesopotamia,  his  religion  was  still  mingled 
with  too  much  human  contrivance ;  but  he  becomes  a 
different  man  as  he  grows  older.  The  struggles  and 
trials  of  many  years  brought  out  what  was  best  in  him, 
and  softened  and  melted  away  much  that  was  ignoble 
and  doubtful.  We  see  him  at  his  best,  after  the  mys- 
terious inward  struggle  in  the  night  at  Peniel ;  when  "  he 
wept  and  made  supplication,"  "  and  had  power  over  the 
angel  and  prevailed."  Till  then  he  had  shown  too  much 
reliance  on  human  craft,  even  while  true  to  his  faith  in 
the  promises;  but  trouble  was  gradually  transforming 
him  from  Jacob, "  the  supplanter,"  to  Israel,  "  the  Prince 
of  God."  His  prayer  in  anticipation  of  the  meeting 
with  Esau,  with  its  touching  confession  that  he  was  not 
worthy  of  the  least  of  all  the  mercies  and  of  all  the  truth 
shown  him,  breathes  a  very  different  spirit  from  that 
with  which  he  left  Canaan  long  years  before ;  and  this 
contrite  humility  presently  won  its  final  triumph  in  the 
mysterious  scene  at  the  ford  of  the  Jabbok ;  a  name  mean- 
ing "  the  wrestler."  Purified  and  proved  by  trial,  the 
higher  qualities  of  his  nature,  for  the  most  part,  shine  out 
more  and  more,  till  it  is  felt  to  be  in  perfect  keeping  with 
his  later  life  that  he  alone  of  the  patriarchs,  as  a  ripened 
saint,  leaves  a  solemn  prophetic  blessing  to  his  children 
as  he  dies.  ■    :      • 

In  their  boyhood  the  two  lads  had  enjoyed  the  privilege 
of  having  their  grandfather  Abraham  with  them,  for  he 
survived  till  they  were  about  fifteen.  But  neither  of 
them  reproduced  his  grand  characteristics.  The  first 
forty  years  of  their  life  developed  two  very  different  men. 
Esau  was  clearly  reverting  to  a  lower  grade  of  civiliza- 
tion— that  of  the  wandering  Bedouin ;  Jacob  slowly 
advancing  from  the  life  of  a  shepherd  to  that  of  a  tiller 


fl 


422 


ISAAC   AND   HIS   BONA. 


y  i 


..«;|: 


i 


of  the  ground.     Isaac,  little  inclined  to  moving  about, 
had  added    agriculture   to   the    care .  of  flocks.     Broad 
fields   and  abundant  harvests  became  faOiiliar  sights  at 
Gerar  and  Beersheba,  and  quickened  a  love  for  the  soil 
in  Jacob,  which  he  afterwards  showed  in  his  fields  at 
Shechem,^  and  transmitted  to  his  posterity.     With  the 
one  exception  of  a  proposal  from  a  neighbouring  petty 
king  to  take  Rebekah  into  his  harem,  little  could  have 
disturbed  these  tranquil  years.     Strifes  about  wells  were 
apparently  the  only  break  in  the  quiet  j   for  the  Philis- 
tines,  envious  of   Isaac's  prosperity,  and  perhaps  half 
afraid  of  his  mo-ny  retainers,  once  and  again  disputed  his 
possession  of  the  wells  he  had  sunk  with  great  labour 
through  the  limestone  rock.     They  had  already  taken  the 
common  Oriental  course  for  driving  away  unwelcome  or 
hostile  neighbours,  of  filling  with  earth   those  dug  by 
Abraham ;  but  nothing  could  ruffle  the  even  spirit  of  the 
peace-loving  Isaac.     To  hew  out  a  well  in  the  desert 
pastures,  was  a  great  thing,  in  which  even  the  chiefs 
were  proud  to  join.     Its  successful  termination  inspired 
the  poets  of  the  tribe,  and  caused  universal  rejoicings. 
"  Spring   up,   ye  springs,''   says   a   snatch   of    an    old 
popular  song  of  Israel,  of  the  time  of  the  wilderness 
wanderings,^   ''springs   which   princes  dug — which   the 
nobles  of  the  people  hewed  out,  with  the  ruler's  staff  and 
I'-iheir  sceptre.''     King  Uzziah  was  famous  for  his  many 
wells,  and  doubtless  Isaac  wp5  no  less  so  in  his  day. 
Fierce  and  desperate  feuds  doubtless  sprang  up  from  time 
to  time  when  ^jossessions  so  precious  were  assailed;  but 
Isaac,  timid  and  gentle,  only  moved  to  other  pastures  and 
sank  other  wells.     In  these  disputes  we -can  well  imagine 
Esau  taking  part ;  but  Jacob,  like  his  father,  would  be 
more  likely  to  think  quiet  cheaply  bought  by  yielding. 


ir. 


God.  xxxvii.  7.    '  Num.  xxi.  17.    See  Ewald,  Gesch.,  vol.  ii.  p.  287. 


ng  about, 
}.     Broad 

sights  at 
r  the  soil 

lields  at 

With  the 

ring  petty 

ould  have 

ivells  were 

he  Philis- 

•haps  half 

sputed  his 

eat  labour 

taken  the 

elcome  or 

;e  dug  by 

)irit  of  the 

the  desert 

the  chiefs 

n  inspired 

rejoicings. 

£    an    old 

wilderness 

which   the 

's  staff  and 

'  his  many 

1  his  day. 

from  time 

ailed;  but 

stures  and 

)11  imagine 

,  would  be 

fielding. 

ol.  ii.  p.  287. 


ISAAC   AND  HIS   SONS. 


423 


The  marriages  of  the  patriarchal  families  decided  the 
history  of  their  subsequent  branches.  Quiet  progress 
from  h(»useholds  of  shepherds  to  a  settled  nation  turned 
necessarily  on  the  life  adopted,  and  tliat  again  was 
largely  affected  by  the  domestic  alliances  made.  Tlie 
daughter  of  Bethuel,  coming  from  "the  city''  of  Nahor, 
must  have  brought  with  her  the  instincts  of  a  settled  life, 
and  so,  also,  with  the  daughters  of  Laban,  Bethuel's  son. 
But  what  instincts  could  grow  up  in  the  children  of  Ishraael 
or  Esau,  except  those  of  the  wild,  unimproving  Arab;  born 
as  they  were  of  idolatrous  mothers,  wherever  the  wander- 
ing camp  of  their  parents  chanced  for  bhe  time  to  be 
pitched.  It  was  a  Divine  impulse,  therefore,  which,  acting 
through  th*e  Eastern  craving  for  unmixed  blood,  led  to  the 
choice  of  brides,  for  Isaac  and  Jacob,  from  the  old  home 
of  the  race.  Esau's  leanings  were  only  too  plain  in  his 
bringing  home  two  Hittite  maidens  as  wives.^  It  was 
clear  that  the  traditions  of  Abraham  and  Isaac  had  no 
hold  on  him,  and  that  their  worship  of  the  One  only  God, 
to  whom  he  himself  had  been  dedicat3d  by  circumcision, 
was  nothing  in  his  eyes.  To  build  up  a  chosen  race,  the 
heirs  of  the  Divine  covenant,  involved  strict  separation 
from  the  heathen  around;  but  Esau,  with  this  knowledge, 
had  deliberately  forsaken  his  own  rac9,  with  all  its  hopes 
and  aspirations,  and  identified  himself  with  those  from 

*  Isaac  and  Esau  both  married  at  tba  age  of  forty,  and  tho 
connection  of  Jacob's  being  sent  off  to  Mesopotamia  for  a  .vife, 
with  the  statement  of  the  grief  of  both  parents  at  E::iau's  alliances, 
points  to  both  events  happening  near  each  other  in  time.  Mot'eover, 
chap,  xxviii.  9  assumes  that  Ishmael  was  alive  when  Jacob  was 
sent  off.  But  he  was  114  years  old  when  Esau  married,  and  lived 
in  all  137  years,  so  that  he  died  wlien  Jacob  was  sixty-three  or 
sixty-four.  Jacob  must  therefore  have  gone  to  Mesopotamia  long 
before,  and  Was  probably  just  over  forty  when  lie  did  so.  Sue 
art.  Ja'«;ob,  in  Iliehm.     So,  also,  Michaelis,  in  Moaaischca  licclit. 


I 


•'•^;3 


424 


ISAAC   AND   HTS   SONS. 


whom  God  had  required  them  to  keep  themselves  dis- 
tinct. No  wonder  that  it  was  "  bitterness  of  heart "  to 
both  Tsaac  and  Rebekah,  to  see  him  thus  break  avvav  from 
all  they  counted  most  nacred,  and  despise  his  birthright 
by  slighting  the  conditions  which  God  had  imposed  for 
its  inheritance. 

In  this  light  the  eageriiess  of  Rebekah  to  secure  fof 
her  favourite  Jacob  the  blessing  so  utterly  disregarded  by 
his  brother,  is  more  easily  understood,  though  no  excuse 
can  be  offered  for  the  treacherous  and  selfish  means  by 
which  it  was  obtained ;  means  sorely  punished  by  the 
course  of  his  ft  tnre  Utd,  for  Rebekah  never  saw  Jacob 
again  after  his  exile,  and  Jacob  had  to  toil  for  over 
iiwenty  years,  far  from  home,  so  dear  to  an  Oriental, 
instead  of  sharing  the  ease  and  wealth  of  his  father's  tents. 
But  craft  and  deceit  aro  natural  to  the  Arab,  and  Laban's 
character  shows  that  in  this,  Rebekah's  family  was  no 
exception.  Nor  is  it  to  be  overlooked  that  Jacob  makes 
no  afterclaim  for  the  birthright  on  the  ground  of  his 
transaction  with  Esau,  whose  withdrawal  to  the  desert, 
long  before  his  father's  death,  of  itself  left  him  the  head- 
ship of  the  race.^ 

^  The  hair  of  Syriay-  goats  is  in  some  parts  of  the  creature  so 
fine  that  it  was  used  by  the  Romans  as  a  substitute  for  human  hair.* 
The  expression  *•  he  smelled  the  smell  of  his  raiment "  (xxvii.  27) 
is  illustrated  by  the  customs  of  India  at  the  present  day.  "  It  is 
not  common  to  salute,"  says  Roberts,  '*  they  simply  smell  each 
other."  Of  an  amiable  man  it  is  said,  "  How  sweet  is  the  smell 
of  that  man ! "  So,  a  lady  wishing  to  show  love  to  a  child,  in  A.sia 
Minor,  still  says,  "  Come  hiyher,  darling  and  let  me  sn  ell  thee." 
Eastern  garments  are  very  often  highly  pert" n  tned.  Rosenmiiller'a 
A.  und  N.  Morgenland,  vol.  i.  p.  122. 

The  "dew  of  heaven"  (xxvii.  28)  is  essential  to  the  harvest  in 
Palestine  after  the  rams  have  ceased.  It"  it  fail,  there  is  no 
crop;  if  it  be  abundant,  the  crops  are  heavy. 

*  Martial,  xii.  46.     Tuch,  on  v.  16. 


ISAAC   AND   HIS   tONP. 


425 


iehea  dig- 
heart"  to 
awav  from 
birthright 
nposed  for 

secure  for 
Bgarded  by 
no  excuse 
moans  by 
ed  by  the 
saw  Jacob 
1  for  over 
1  Oriental, 
her's  tents, 
nd  Laban'3 
ily  was  no 
cob  makes 
und  of  his 
the  desert, 
1  the  head- 

3  creature  so 
human  hair.* 
,"  (xxvii.27) 
day.  "  It  is 
'  smell  each 
is  the  smell 
hild,  in  A.sia 
sn  ell  t.hee.'* 
l/osenmiiller'a 

e  harvest  in 
there   is   no 


Esau's  defection  alone  would  have  demanded  a 
careful  marriage  for  Jacob,  and  the  necessity  for  flight 
gave  the  desired  opportunity  to  secure  it.  Jacob  must 
go  to  Mesopotamia,  to  the  old  home  of  the  race,  to  seek 
there  a  wife  of  the  pure  blood.  That  he  would  be  wel- 
comed was  a  matter  of  course,  for  it  is  still  the  rule 
among  Arabs  that  a  cousin,  as  one  of  themselves,  has  the 
first  claim  in  marriage.^  Receiving,  therefore,  a  parting 
blessing  from  Isaac,  involving  the  transmission  of  the 
great  promise  to  Abraham,  he  sets  out  on  his  long  jour- 
ney, and  on  the  second  or  third  night  reaches  the  heights 
over  which  the  track  lay  to  the  north,  along  the  backbone 
of  the  Palestine  hills.  Taking  for  a  pillow  one  of  the 
many  stones  which  lie  around,  amidst  sheets  of  bare  rock, 
and  sinking  into  the  sleep  of  the  weary,  the  thouerhts 
which  had  engaged  him  by  day,  took  shape  in  a  vision.* 
The  great  stones  on  all  sides  build  themselves  up  into  a 
vast  staircase,  lost  in  the  heights  of  the  open  sky,  and  on 
this  angels  are  seen  ascending  and  descending.  It  was 
clear  that  other  spots  than  Beersheba  were  under  heavenly 
protection,  and  that,  little  as  he  had  thought  it,  he  was 
the  object  of  loving  interest  to  the  messengers  of  God. 
Still  more,  the  Divine  voice  sounds  from  the  light  in 
which  the  vision  seemed  to  lose  itself  above,  assuring  the 
houseless  wanderer  that  the  promise  given  to  Abraham 
would  be  fulfilled  to  himself,  since  he  felt  its  value,  and 
that  wherever  he  went  God  would  protect  him,  and  in 
due  time  restore  him  to  the  land  he  was  leaving.  No 
vender  if  on  waking  he  felt,  that  though  he  had .  hitherto 

*  Lane's  Modern  Egyiitians,  vol.  i.  p.  215. 

*  The  words  "  God  who  answered  me  in  my  distress,'*  spoken 
long  afterwards  (chap.  xxxv.  3)  in  reference  to  this  incident;  seem 
to  imply  earnest  prayer  as  marking  it. 

*  Angels  were  not  yet  imagined  as  having  wings.  , 


■  '-^ 


( , 


;i 


i    ii^ 


42(5 


ISAAC  AND   HIS   30NS. 


tliougbfc  of  God  as  specially  present  at  the  altar-sanctuary 
of  Beersbeba,  Ho  was  no  less  present  even  liore.  To  the 
watidorer  the  spot  was  henceforth  *'  Bethel,  tbe  House  of 
God,"  and  "  The  gutc  of  Heaven.''  i 

Abraham  and  Isaac  had  built  altars  to  commemorate 
Divine  appearances,  but  Jacob  had  to  content  himself 
with  setting  up  the  stono  on  which  his  head  had  rested, 
as  a  memorial ;  some  of  the  oil  he  carried  with  him  as  food, 
serving  as  the  symbol  of  an  offering  to  anoint  it.  In  all 
ages  the  earliest  approaches  to  a  "  House  of  God/'  whether 
in  eastern  or  western  lands,  have  been  ecjually  rudo. 
Similar  stone  memorials  had  already,  from  the  remotest 
times,  abounded  in  Canaan  and  the  countries  round  it.  The 
one  now  raised  by  Jacob  in  the  centre  of  the  land,  was 
hence  in  keeping  with  a  well  known  practice,  and  made 
the  spot  so  specially  holy,  that  Canaanito  and  Hebrew, 
alike,  afterwards  fought  for  its  possession  through  cen- 
turies.2  A  second  and  more  permanent  memorial,  in  tho 
pillar  raised  by  him  on  his  return  from  Mesopotamia,* 
long  after,  and  conpecrated  not  (>nly  by  anointing,  but  by 
his  pouring  a  drink  offering  over  it,  showed  the  intense 
impression  left  on  his  mind  by  tho  vision ;  an  impression 
which  re-appears  oven  in  his  dying  blessing  on  Joseph, 
in  which  he  can  think  of  God  only  as  the  "  Shepherd 
of  the  stone  of  Israel."  *  Nor  are  echoes  of  Bethel  want- 
ing from  a  wider  circle  than  Israel,  for  the  Phenicians 
gave  a  god,  once  highly  honoured  by  them  on  this  very 

*  See  a  striking  passage  in  Herder's  Ehralsche  Poesie,  vol.  ii. 
p.  21.  Jacob's  vow  to  pay  God  a  tenth  of  all  that  God  might  give 
him  (ver.  22)  was  the  ground  of  the  gift  of  tho  tenths  to  tha 
Levites  as  God's  representatives.  3£{chaelis,  vol.  iii.  p.  22. ;  iv. 
p.  96.    Jacob  himself  only  imitated  Abraham.    See  p.  383. 

*  .Tosh.  xii.  16.    Judg.  i.  22.  *  Gen.  xxxv.  14    , 

*  Gen.  xlix.  24.  .  s 


ISAAC   AND   BIS    SONS. 


427 


•-sanctuary 
•e.  To  the 
o  House  of 

nmemorate 

nt  himself 

had  rested, 

lim  as  food, 

it.     In  all 

d/*  whether 

iially  rude. 

le  remotest 

undit.  The 

le  land,  was 

,  and  made 

id  Hebrew, 

trough  cen- 

orial,  in  the 

'sopotaraia,' 

ting,  but  by 

the  intense 

L  impression 

on  Joseph, 

"  Shepherd 

bethel  want- 

Phenicians 

m  this  very 


spot,  the  name  of  Batulos,  while  the  sacred  stoneH  worn 
in  their  "charms,"  bore  the  name  of  Batulia.^  Sucred 
stones  known  by  that  name,  were,  imlecjd,  worHhippcd 
also  in  Phrygin,  Syria,  on  the  Eiiplirates,  and  in  K<x;pt  j 
while  a  rude  stone,  older  than  any  temple,  was  anointed 
with  oil  by  pilgrims  at  the  a,ncient  Delphi,  and  the 
Mahometan  world  to  this  day  reveres  the  blaclc  stone  of 
the  Caaba,  at  Mecca,  as  a  relic  of  Abraham  and  Ishmael.' 
The  incident  doubtless  marks  the  beginning  of  a  great 
revolution  in  the  patriarch's  spiritual  lilo.  That  all 
his  craft  in  overreaching  Esau  had  ended,  so  far,  only 
in  lonely  exile,  when  remembered  in  connection  with  the 
heavenly  vision,  must  have  made  him  feel  that  crooked 
ways  had  no  sanction  from  God,  even  when  used  for  good 
ends;  and  that  he  must  henceforth  follow  a  higher  course. 
In  his  future  intercourse  with  Laban,  indeed,  he  opposes 
craft  with  craft,  but  only  when  forced,  after  long  and 
faithful  service,  to  defend  himself  and  his  household  from 
cunning  which  sought  to  undo  him.  It  is  no  longer  his 
choice,  but  his  necessity. 

Strengthened  to  abiding  '  trust  in  the  Promise  re- 
newed to  Him  by  the  Divine  voice  itself,  and  by  the 
assurance  that  angels  were  near  Him,  fugiti/e  and 
wanderer  as  He  was,  to  promote  its  fulfilment  and  to 
watch  and  guard  him,  Jacob  "  lifted  up  his  feet,"  and 
at  last  came  to  the  land  of  "  the  Sons  of  the  East." 
What  follows  is  a  charming  idyll.     Besting  by  a  well  in 


1 1  'I 


%e8ie,  vol.  ii. 
)d  might  pive 
;cnths  to  the 
ii.  p.  22. ;  iv. 
p.  383. 

D.  XXXV.  14 


»  Ewald,  ^?</i.,  p.l59. 

*  Sii"  W.  Muii''s  ilfrt/wwiei,  p.l4.  The  Scotch  coronation  stone, 
now  in  Westminster  Abbey,  was  held  in  a  similar  way  to  be 
Jacob's  pillow. 

•  It  is  often  spo;.en  of  as  *'  Padan  "  (the  yoke,  or  hollow  between 
two  ranges  of  hilis)  of  *'  Aram."  Eioald,  vol.  i.  p.  461.  Col.  Chesney 
describes  the  landscape  of  Harran  as  shut  in  by  a  low  range  oi 


428 


ISAAC   ANT)   HIS   SONS. 


:!.    ,i' 


the  district  whence  his  forefathers  had  come,'  he  learns 
from  some  sliopherds  gathered  around  it,  that  ho  is  close 
to  the  encampment  of  his  uncle  Labiin,  and  that  Rachel, 
his  cousin,  will  soon  come  to  water  her  father's  flock. 
Erelong  she  appears,  leading  her  sheep ;  for,  then,  as 
now,  it  was  the  custom  for  the  unmarried  daughters  of 
chiefs  to  take  the  flocks  to  pasture  and  to  water.  But  to 
•ee  is  to  love ;  at  once,  and  for  life.  Rolling  aside  the 
stone  which  covers  the  welP  Jacob  takes  her  toil  on 
himself.  His  strength  and  goodwill  are  hers,  till  at 
last,  the  work  done,  his  emotion  brv?aks  out  incontroU- 
ably,  and,  with  the  privilege  of  a  relation,  he  falls  on  her 
neck  and  kisses  her ;  weeping  for  very  joy,  like  a  true 
Oriental,  as  he  tells  her  he  is  Jacob,  her  cousin,  the  son 
of  Rebekah.      Even  Laban,  cold  and  hard  as  he  was,  is 

limestone  hills  which  runs  to  it  from  Oorfa.  The  plain  is  threaded 
with  beds  of  ancient  irrigating  canals,  drawn  from  the  river 
Belik.  The  archways  and  towers  of  the  ancient  castle  noticed 
already  (p.  317)  are  still  perfect,  and  the  old  city  can  still  be 
traced  underneath  ;  its  streets,  laid  out  at  right  angles,  and  the 
wreck  of  marble  and  porphyry  pillars  lying  round.  But  this 
relates  to  an  indefinitely  later  age  than  that  of  Jacob.  Things, 
then,  would  be  more  aptly  illustrated,  perhaps,  by  the  tents  of 
the  Arabs  in  the  neighbourhood,  and  by  their  beeliive-shaped 
stone  huts,  the  roof  self-supporting.  Expedition  to  the  Euphrates, 
p.  433. 

^  Wells  are  still  the  spots  where  the  youth  and  girls  of  Bedouin 
life  congregate,  and  at  the  wells  alone  is  Oriental  courtship  carried 
on  to  this  day.  The  Syrian  girl,  especially  if  a  Druse  or  a 
Christian,  unlike  the  secluded  daughter  of  the  towns,  is  frequently 
entrusted  with  the  care  of  her  father's  flock.  The  well,  the  most 
precious  of  possessions,  is  carefully  closed  with  a  heavy  slab 
until  all  those  whose  flocks  are  entitled  to  shffre  its  water  have 
gathered.  The  time  is  noon.  The  first  comers  gather  and  re- 
port the  gossip  of  the  tribe.  The  story  of  Jacob  and  Rachel  ia, 
in  its  most  miimte  details,  a  transcript  of  the  Arab  life  of  to-day« 
Tristram's  Nat.  Hist,  of  Bihle^  p.  142. 


'ii-  'I 


ISAAC   AND   HIS  SONS* 


429 


he  learns 
ho  is  close 
mt  Rachel, 
ler's  flock, 
p,  then,  as 
lughfcors  of 
>r.     But  to 

aside  the 
or  toil  on 
3rs,  till  at 
incontroll- 
alls  on  her 
iko  a  true 
in,  the  son 
he  was,  is 

1  is  threaded 
m  the  river 
•stie  noticed 
can  still  bo 
les,  and  tho 
But  this 
)b.  Things, 
tho  tents  of 
hive-shaped 
3  EaphraieSf 

1  of  Bedonin 
ship  carried 
Druse  or  a 
3  frequently 
il,  the  most 
heavy  slab 
water  have 
ler  and  re- 
I  Eachel  is, 
b  of  to-day. 


touched  by  the  story,  and  running  to  greet  his  sister's 
son,  leads  him  home  with  tender  embraces,  and  long 
and  repeated  kissing,  ^  making  him  welcome  as  **  his 
bone  and  his  flesh." 

A  month's  stay  showed  that  the  value  of  Jacob's  skill 
and  industry  as  a  shepherd  made  it  desirable  to  retain 
him.  But  now  begins  tho  long  record  of  Laban's  selfish 
and  crafty  greed.  "  Why  should  Jacob,  though  a  brother, 
serve  for  nothing  f  To  a  brother  one  gives  rather  more 
than  less."  The  answer  was  ready.  Could  he  only 
have  Rachel,  his  love  at  first  sight,  he  would  gladly  work 
seven  years  to  get  her ;  a  proposal  as  gladly  accepted, 
for  was  he  not  a  tribesman  and  a  cousin ;  and  so  the  long 
week  of  years,  spent  in  her  presence,  "  seemed  but  a 
few  days  for  the  love  he  had  to  her." 

For  the  double  marriage  which  followed,  Jacob  can 
hardly  be  blamed,  for  he  was  tricked  into  it,  and  indeed 
the  custom  alleged  is  still  strictly  followed  in  India,' 
though  it  was  forbidden  to  tho  Hebrews.^  Marriage  with 
cousins  was  not,  however,  prohibited  to  them,  though 
even  in  Jacob's  day,  such  unions  as  that  of  Abraham 
with  his  half  sister  Sarah,  or  of  Nahor  with  his  niece 
Milcah,  which  continued  common  among  Canaanites, 
Arabs,  Egyptians,*  Assyrians,  and  later  amo^^'  the 
Persians,  had  apparently  ceased  in  Israel,  when  the 
growth  of  the  nation  offered  a  wider  selection.  In  the 
Mosaic  law  such  marriages  were  strictly  forbidden.* 

'  The  Hebrew  verb  is  in  the  conjugation  Piel,  which  has  this 
force. 

*  BoernTniillerf  vol.  i.  p.  138.  The  Book  of  Jubilees,  Cap.  xviii. 
proposes  this  even  for  a  law  in  Israel. 

■  Lev.  xviii.  18. 

*  Ebers'  Uardaj  vol.  i.  p.  159. 

*  Lev.  xviii.  9, 11;  xx.  17.    Deut.  xxvli.  22. 


il, 


'•:  l\ 


,<■;   'I 


t|  i>  i 


m 


.  ¥\ 


i30 


ISAAC   AND   HTS   SONS. 


,;:?' 


The  dull  and  weak  eyes  of  Leah  were  a  poor  exchanp^o 
for  Rachel,  for  she  was  finely  made  and  had  the  splendid 
gazelle-like  eyes  so  dear  to  an  Oriental.^  But  Eastern 
brides  come  to  their  husbands  veiled,  and  the  substitu- 
tion of  one  sister  for  another  was  easy.  A  second  long 
week  of  years  must  be  served  for  Rachel,  though  he 
might  take  her  as  his  wife  forthwith.^  "Keep  the 
week's  wedding  feast  for  Rachel,  as  you  have  done  for 
Leah,  and  you  may  ha^e  her,  if  you  serve  seven  years 
after,  in  payment."  Rebekah  had  received  several  slaves 
as  her  dowry,  but  Laban,  ever  mean  as  he  was  shifty, 
gives  Leah  and  Rachel  onlj  one  apiece.* 

A  double  marriage  is  seldom  happy,  but  the  trick  by 
which  Jacob  had  been  forced  into  this  one  added  a  special 
•  trouble,  in  the  inevitable  partiality  for  the  one  sister,  and 
apparent  neglect  of  the  other.  Leah's  numerous  family, 
however,  and  Rachel's  childlessness,  must  have  seemed, 
even  to  Jacob,  the  rebuke  of  Providence  for  his  diflferent 
treatment  of  the  two,  though  it  served  only  as  a  partial 
solace  to  Leah's  wounded  spirit.  Nothing,  indeed,  could 
be  more  touching  than  the  dismal  rivalry  between  the 
sisters,  nor  could  any  commentary  more  telling  be 
found  against   the  practice  of   polygamy.      The  names 

*  This  is  the  sense  of  Gen.  xxix.  17. 

'  He  received  Rachel  for  the  work  he  was  to  serve  (xxix.  27). 

'  Daughters  seldom  had  any  inheritance,  though  this  was  not 
always  the  case,  as  we  see  in  the  daughters  of  Zelophehad. 
Num.  xxvii.  2,  3,  4.  All  daughters  moreover,  were  not  sold,  and 
thoHO  who  were  not  had  so  much  the  greater  claims  on  their 
husbands.  Hence  the  complaint  of  Rachel  against  her  father  : 
"  Hath  he  not  counted  us  as  strangers  ?  for  he  hath  sold  us  and 
hath  quite  devoured  also  our  money  (that  which  he  got  for  us)" 
MichaeUs,  vol.  ii.  pp.  71,  75,  108.  The  custom  of  serving  a  term 
of  years  as  payment  br  a  wife  is  still  common  in  Syria.  Kittu'a 
Fictorial  Palealine,  vol.  i.  p.  93. 


•  exchange 
e  splendid 
iifc  Eastern 
substitu^i 
3cond  long 
}hougli  he 
Keep  the 
e  done  for 
Bven  years 
eral  slaves 
7as  shifty, 

le  trick  bv 
d  a  special 
sister,  and 
3US  family, 
^e  seemed, 
is  different 
is  a  partial 
leed,  could 
>tween  the 
belling  be 
?he  names 


(xxix.  27). 
lis  was  not 
Selopbehad. 
ot  sold,  and 
as  on  their 
her  father  : 
sold  us  aud 
:ot  for  us)** 
iiig  a  term 
la.    Kitto*a 


ISAAC   AND   HIS    SONS. 


431 


given  by  Leah  to  her  successive  children,  and  the  gift 
of  the  personal  slave-attendants  of  each  sister  in  turn  to 
Jacob,  as  concubines,  that  each  might  adopt  as  her  own 
the  offspring  thus  born,  speaks  of  long  years  of  domestic 
misery.  Leah  herself  bore  her  husband  six  sons  and  a 
daughter,  the  only  one  named  in  Jacobus  family,  though 
thero  no  doubt  were  others.^  Zilpah  "  the  droppings  of 
myrrh,"  Leah's  maid,  added  to  these,  two  suns,  whom 
Leah  adopted. 

But  now,  at  last,  Rachel's  sorrow  is  turned  to  joy  by 
the  birth  of  Joseph,  a  name  which,  by  a  play  on  the  word, 
spoke  at  once  of  her  reproach  being  "  taken  away  "  and 
of  her  hope  that  still  another  son  would  be  "  added."  ^ 
Yet  it  was  not  till  after  long  years  that  the  second  came, 
and  then  only  to  be  Benoni,  the  "  son  of  her  sorrow." 

The  bargain  with  Laban  for  the  wages  of  the  third 
seven  years  shows  craft  met  by  more  than  its  match.  "  I 
have  consulted  divination,"  bays  Laban,  "  and  the  Lord 


hath  blessed  me  for  thy  sake  :  "  *  a 


strange 


mixiuir  of 


heathen  rites  with  the  true  religion,  in  keeping  with  his 
worshipping  household  gods.  *'  Appoint  me  thy  wages, 
and  I  will  give  it."  Anxious  to  return  to  Canaan,  JacoD 
sees  in  the  offer  a  means  of  wealth  at  which  ho  grasps. 
The  colour  of  flocks  must  have  been  less  varied  in  Laban'a 
day  to  let  him  accept  the  conditions  offered ;  for  those 
claimed  by  Jacob,  the  brown  sheep,  and  the  spotted, 
ring-streaked  and  speckled  goats,  are  very  numerous  in 
every  flock  now.*  But  had  he  known  it,  the  cunning 
Jacob    was  less    indebted  to    his    fanciful  schemes  for 


*  Chap.  XX' "ii.  35. 

'  Asaph  =  to  take  awny  ;  jasaph  =  to  add. 

■  Rev.  J.  M.  llodwoU,  in  Tram,  of  Soc.  Bib.  Arch.,  vol.  ii.  p.  llSi 
The  text  quoted  is  Gvx.  xxx.  27. 

*  Tristram's  Nat.  Uiat.  of  Bible,  p.  141<.    Land  and  Book,  p.  202. 


m 


I:  ;. 

:■■;>. 


Mil: 


432 


ISAAC   AND   BIS   SONS. 


ilillilli 


:!:|- 

i''' 

I't 

''  ^k 

s       f 

lessening  Laban's  wealth  and  increasing  his  own  than 
he  fancied,  for  it  is  certain  that  his  device  to  secure 
the  colours  he  wished  could  have  no  effect,  and  that 
the  result  was  rather  a  direct  favour  from  God.^  The 
struggle  is  one  of  patient  determination  against  ever^ 
difficulty.  The  wage  is  ten  times  changed,  ard  Jacob 
has  to  make  good  all  losses  by  wild  beasts  or  theft,  by 
day  or  by  night ;  but  he  keeps  to  his  work  with  invincible 
patience,  and  honest  fidelity.  "  In  the  day,"  said  he, 
afterwards,  without  contradiction,  to  Laban,  "  the  drought 
consumed  me,  and  the  frost  by  night,^  and  my  sleep 
departed  from  mine  eyes.  God  has  sten  my  trouble  and 
the  labour  of  my  hands." 

The  story  of  his  final  flight  to  Canaan  is  perfect  in  its 
Oriental  colouring.  At  the  head  of  his  flocks  and  herds ; 
with  his  wives,  children  and  slaves,  he  strikes  away, 
across  the  Euphrates,  at  the  utmost  speed  so  cumbered 
a  march  allows,  for  Mount  Gilead,  the  outpost  of  "  his 
own  country.'^  His  flight  remains  unsuspected  for  three 
days,  but,  tlien,  Laban,  hearing  of  it,  sets  off  on  swift 
camels  in  pursuit ;  overtaking  the  fugitives  on  the  seventh 
day,  while  they  were  still  among  the  richly  wooded  and 
watered  hills  of  Gilead,  which  mark  off"  the  fertile  land 
from  the  desert,  east  of  the  Jordan. 

The  five  tents  of  Jacob  and  his  wives^  had  been  pitched 
on  the  slope  of  the  hills,  apparently  where  they  reach 
their  highest  elevation  of  5,000  feet,  not  far  from  tho 

'  Tristram,  p.  144.  " 

'  The  absence  of  clouds  in  hot  countries  permits  so  great  a 
radiation  of  the  heat  of  the  earth  into  space,  after  sunset,  there 
boiiij*  no  muffling  of*  clouds  to  check  it,  that  the  nights  are  very 
cold.  Hence  rheumatism  and  similar  ailments  are  especially 
common  among  the  shepherds  of  Palestine.  In  The  Land 
and  The  Book,  the  cold  at  night  is  noted,  p.  369. 
'  Chap.  xxxi.  313.  ■ 


ISAAC   AND   HIS   SONS. 


433 


3  own  than 
e  to  secure 
t,  and  tliat 
[lod.i  The 
gainst  every 

ard  Jacob 
or  theft,  by 
ih  invinciblo 
r,"  said  he, 

the  drought 
ad  my  sleep 

trouble  and 

lerfect  in  its 
s  and  herds ; 
trikes  away, 
so  cumbered 
post  of  "his 
ted  for  three 

off  on  swift 
a  the  seventh 

wooded  and 
I  fertile  land 

been  pitched 
e  they  reach 
far  from  tho 

lits  so  great  a 
er  sunset,  there 
nighf/S  are  very 
i  are  especially 
In   The  Land 


Jabbok,  the  camels  and  flocks  lying  around,  and  now 
those  of  Laban  are  set  up  on  a  neighbouring  hill,  specially 
known  as  Mount  Gilead.  It  is  a  moment  of  real  danger 
to  Jacob,  for  Laban's  kinsmen,  as  the  men  of  his  tribe 
with  him  are  called,  are  much  the  stronger.*  He  had 
given  his  daughters  no  inheritance,^  and  had  treated 
Jacob  with  the  utmost  duplicity  and  harshness,  but  with 
true  Arab  dissimulation  he  chides  Jacob  for  having  stolen 
away  without  giving  him  an  opportunity  of  dismissing 
him  and  his  wives  with  a  parting  feast,  or  even  letting 
him  give  his  daughters  a  farewell  kiss.  That  he  was 
thus  placable,  was  due,  we  are  told,  to  a  dream  he  had 
had  overnight,  warning  him  to  do  Jacob  no  harm.  B«it 
the  fugitives  had  done  him  the  terrible  wrong,  as  he  must 
have  thought  it,  of  stealing  his  "gods,''  and  these 
must  be  given  back.  Rachel,  indeed,  without  Jacob's 
knowledge,  had  carried  them  off,  doubtless  for  her  own 
superstitious  use,  and  had  hidden  them  in  one  of  the 
great  basket-like  bags  fixed  to  the  sides  of  her  camel's 
saddle,'  as  a  commodious  lounge  on  the  journey ;  and  now 
sat  in  it,  over  them,  feigning  sickness ;  so  that,  as  polite- 
ness would  not  allow  her  to  be  disturbed,  they  were  not 
discovered,  and  Laban  had  unwillingly  to  lose  them.* 

»  v^er.  29.  *  ver.  14. 

«  Tm^raw,  p.  61.  There  is  also  a  kind  of  palanquin,  five  feet 
long,  with  curtains  over  and  around  it,  which  is  fastened  across 
the  saddle  of  the  camels  for  ladies'  travelling.  It  may  have  been 
something  of  this  kind.  Burckhardt's  Bedouins,  p.  370.  Ker 
Porter's  Travels,  vol.  ii.  p.  339. 

*  It  is  to  be  noticed  that  in  chap.  xxxi.  32,  Jacob  tells  Laban, 
that  he  will  put  to  death  any  person  in  his  encampment  found  to 
have  stolon  the  gods.  Thus,  the  patriarchs  exercised  the  power 
of  life  and  death.  From  chap,  xxxviii.  24,  it  is  further  evident 
that  even  the  heads  of  divisions  or  families  in  the  encampment 
had  this  power.  It  is  curious  also  to  note,  that  Laban  makes 
Jacob  promise  to  take  no  more  wives  (chap.  xxxi.  50). 

VOL.    1.  F  » 


If 


Ml 


^ii.i 


434 


ISAAC   AND   HIS   SONS. 


■I'  (Jif    1 


A  treaty  must,  however,  in  Arab  fashion,  be  made  be- 
tween  him  and  Jacob,  as  a  witness  to  their  quiet  parting, 
and  a  mark  of  the  bounds  henceforth  to  be  fixed  between 
them.  Gladly  assenting,  Jacob,  seemingly  still  as  strong 
as  when  he,  singly,  rolled  off  the  great  stone  from  the 
well  mouth  of  Hairan,  by  himself  sets  up  on  end  a  great 
stone  as  a  memorial  pillar;  at  the  same  time  making 
his  people  pile  up  a  cairn,  like  that  which  still  marks 
off  the  limits  of  Arab  tribes.  On  this,  to  confirm  the 
treaty,  the  two  parties  hold  a  feast ;  for  doing  so, 
especially  taking  bread  and  salt  together,  is  still  among 
Arabs  a  solemn  pledge  of  friendship  and  '  rotherhood, 
and  if  needed,  of  protection.^  The  night  thus  spent  in 
friendship  and  joy,  Laban  and  his  camels  strike  off  in  the 
morning  into  the  desert,  and  with  them  vanishes  the 
last  trace  of  the  connection  of  the  Israelites  with  Meso- 
potamia.^ Gilead  was  henceforth  the  boundary  between 
then  and  the  Aramaic- speaking  races  of  the  east.  The  dia- 
lects of  both  peoples,  indeed,  marked  the  spot ;  for  Jacob 
had  followed  Abraham  and  Isaac  in  the  use  of  Hebrew, 
and  called  his  cairn  Mizpah,  the  watch  tower ;  from  whose 
height,  in  the  simple  ideas  of  the  times,  God  is  to  locL 
far  and  wide  to  see  that  the  treaty  is  kept ;  while  Lab  j.. 
"  the  white  Syrian,"  called  it  Galeed,  instead  of  Gilead, 
as  Jacob  would  have  pronounced  it.'* 

Breaking  up  his  camp  on  the  heights  of  Gilead,  from 
whence  he  could  look  over  into  the  Land  of  Promise,  the 

^  The  words  Gen.  xxxi.  54,  "offered  sacrifices,"  means  "  killed 
beasts  for  a  feast." 

-  Stanley's  Jctvish  Church,  vol.  i.  p.  63. 

■  God  is  spoken  of  in  this  incident  for  the  first  and  last  time 
as,  "  the  God  of  Abralmm  and  of  Nahor— the  God  of  their  fathor," 
(Teiah) — if,  indeed,  Laban  did  not  think  of  a  god  for  each  ;  for 
Dillraann  translates  it,  the  gods  of  their  fathrrsi.  Jacob  i^wears 
by  God  under  the  name  of  "  The  Fear  "  of  his  father  Isaac. 


ISAAC  AND   HIS  SONS. 


435 


past,  witli  its  failings  and  lower  qualities  seems  to  pass 
away  from  Jacob,  aud  a  higher  spirit  take  their  place. 
As  angels  had  appeared  when  his  wauderings  began,  so 
now,  again,  they  visit  him,  perhaps  this  time  also  in 
a  vision,  even  before  he  has  crossed  the  Jordan  on  his 
return ;  to  greet  and  welcome  him  back,  and  conduct  him 
over  the  threshold  of  the  sacred  land.  Henceforth  ho 
knows  the  place  as  Mahanaim,  ''  the  double  camp," — ^his 
own,  and  that  of  a  host  of  angels, — ^a  name  it  afterwards 
bore  as  one  of  the  chief  towns  of  Gilead.^ 

But  now  a  new  danger  threatens  him.  Having  sent 
messengers,  as  Arab  chiefs  are  wont  to  do  with  each  other, 
to  Esau,  to  announce  his  return,  he  learns  to  his  dismay 
that  he  is  already  on  the  way  to  him  with  400  men. 
All  he  has  won  for  himself,  and  even  the  future  possession 
of  Canaan,  seems  in  extreme  peril.  Anticipating  the 
worst,  he  divides  his  encampment,  that  one  part  may 
escape  should  the  other  perish.  But  his  agony  of  mind 
proves  the  crisis  of  his  spiritual  history.^  Feeling  at 
last  that  he  must  depend  only  on  God,  and  smitten  with 
the  remembrance  of  his  past  sins,  which  after  twenty 
yearr  have  thus  found  him  out,  he  pours  forth  a  prayer 
which  breathes  the  purest  humility,  gratitude,  and  con- 
trition. Taking  all  precautions  to  propitiate  a  brother 
he  had  so  greatly  offended,  ho  spends  the  night  at  the  ford 
of  the  torrent  Jabbc>k,  deep  down  where  it  enters  the 
Jordan — a  mental  struggle  from  which  he  comes  forth,  no 
longer  Jacob,  "the  supplanter; ''  but  Israel,  "a Prince  of 
God."  It  is  not  necessary  to  materialize  the  scene ;  for 
the  soul  is  the  true  sphere  of  that  wrestling  which  secures 

»  Jodh.  xiii.  20,  30.    2  Sara.  ii.  8 ;  xvii.  24,  27.     1  Kings  iv.  14. 

^  Jacob's  words  in  his  prayer  (xxxii.  11)  are  striking,—"  He  will 
come  and  smite  me  as  one  stabs  the  mother  protocting  with  her 
body,  her  children  like  to  be  killed."    Ges.,  Thes.,  p.  1027. 


\^. 


Iff  iill! 


436 


ISAAC  AND  HIS   SONS. 


i 


spiritual  blessing.  Nor  does  even  the  halting  on  hia 
thigh  involve  any  physical  struggle,  though  it  implies 
miraculous  agency.^     Its  lesson  is  only  an  enforcement 

*  Gesenias  says  the  Hebrew  words  "Gld  ha  Nasheh,"  translated 
in  our  version, "  The  sinew  which  shrank,"  ought  to  be  the  sciatic  • 
nerve.  In  the  Arabic  the  word  means  this.  The  sciatic  nerve 
runs  from  the  hip  down  the  back  of  the  thigh,  and  is  so  broad 
and  thick  it  might  readily  be  thought  a  sinew.  It  is,  in  fact,  the 
largeb   nerve  of  the  body.     TJies.,  p.  921.    Miihlau,  Lea?.,  p.  171. 

"  The  failings  of  the  patriarchs  are  human,  and  the  fact  that  they 
are  not  passed  over  in  their  history  makes  even  the  story  of  these 
shepherds  of  priceless  worth  to  me.  The  timid  Isaac,  the  crafty 
Jacob,  stand  before  me  as  they  really  were ;  but  they  also  show 
that  the  craft  of  the  latter  was  of  little  service  to  him,  and  in  his 
old  age  he  shows  a  chastened  and  tried  character  which  makes 
him  a  Ulysses  among  those  Shepherd  Fathers,  His  history  is  an 
instructive  mirror  of  the  human  heart,  and  God  Himself  has 
effaced  the  blots  which  the  youthful  Jacob  bore  in  his  very  name. 
'  Thou  shalt  be  no  longer  Jacob,'  says  He,  *  bat  a  hero  of  God, 
Israel,*  a  name  of  honour  which  the  poetry  of  the  race  adopts. 
It  is  not  bodily  might  that  is  recorded  in  it,  but  the  heroism  of 
God,  prayer  and  faith.  .  ,  .  Jacob  has  divided  his  camp  and 
flocks  from  fear  of  a  nocturnal  surprise  by  his  brother.  Now,  far 
from  his  tent,  not  to  sleep,  but  rather  to  keep  from  sleep,  he  prayed 
be  wrestled  with  God  in  supplication,  and  a  visible  symbol  was 
granted  him  that  his  hero-like  faith  had  prevailed.  Eiohim 
appeared,  not  Jehovah,  and  you  know  that  that  word  is  always  used 
with  a  special  significance  in  Jacob's  history  as  well  as  in  the  ear- 
lier parts  of  Scripture.  Hosts  of  God  place  themselves  by  him 
like  two  wings  of  an  encamped  army.  .  .  And  lo,  there  appears 
the  divine  form  of  a  heavenly  warrior  and  wrestles  with  him. 
All  vanish  with  the  dawn — indeed  the  tone  and  colour  of  the  whole 
narrative  move  dimly,  as  if  under  the  mysterious  shades  of  night. 
The  wrestler  does  not  give  his  name,  but  leaves  it  to  be  conjectured. 
Jacob  '^oes  not  triumph,  tells  the  story  to  no  x)ne,  only  wonders 
how  a  simple  shepherd  like  him  could  have  seen  Eiohim  face  to 
face  and  still  live.  But  the  great  charm  is  the  inner  lesson.  It 
is  shown  the  trembling  patriarch  bow  idle  it  is  to  fear  Esau,  when 
he  has  overcome  Jehovah  by  his  prayer."t  Herder's  Ehrdisohe 
Poeaief  vol  ii.  p.  19.  [^ 

•  Or  iscliiatio.    +  Hos.  xii.  4,  5. 


ISAAC   AND  HIS   SONS. 


437 


of  what  had  preceded — that  human  policy  is  no  safe  re- 
liance, but  that  he  must  trust  in  God. 

He  must  be  made  to  feel  that  He  to  whom  he  looks 
as  his  Protector,  and  on  whose  promises  Lo  relies,  is  pure 
and  holy,  and  has  no  pleasure  in  lying  and  deceit.  The 
mighty  struggle  was  that  of  God  with  the  still  resisting 
evil  of  his  nature;  a  struggle  which  cannot  be  spared 
any  one  destined  to  high  spiritual  ends,  and  conscious  of 
being  so.  His  whole  past,  from  first  to  last,  had  been 
more  or  less  a  web  of  craft  and  contriving.  He  had 
striven  with  men  and  might  flatter  himself  to  have  over- 
reached them;  but  he  has  now  to  contend  with  God. 
The  agony  was  long  and  terrible — through  the  whole 
darkness  of  night,  till  the  dawn — but  it  was  the  wrestling 
of  the  new  higher  life  with  the  old  and  evil ;  the  agony 
of  repentance  and  of  a  new  birth,  and  from  it  he  emerged 
a  new  man  with  a  new  naiub.^  It  was  needed  that  he 
should  have  such  a  preparation  to  enter  aright  on  his 
great  inheritance,  from  which  only  the  Jordan  now  divided 
him. 

The  dreaded  meeting  with  Esau  having  passed  off  in 
peace,  and  his  future  friendship  having  been  secured, 
with  wonderful  tact,  by  courtesy  and  splendid  gifts; 
Jacob  moves  over  the  Jordan,  to  the  first  camping  ground 
of  his  race  in  the  vale  of  Shechem,  consecrated  by  Abra- 
ham's altar,  the  oldest  Hebrew  sanctuary  in  the  land ;  and 
thus  the  natural  resting  place  of  this  second,  and  more 
weighty  immigration  from  Chaldea.* 

The  re-appearance  of  Jacob  and  his  shepherd  tribe 
was,  indeed,  a  great  historical  event,  for  they  bore  with 
them  the  future  religious  destinies  of  the  world.  Abra- 
ham's arrival  had  been  only  the  first  wave  of  the  Hebruw 

*  Umbreit,  Studien  und  Kritiken  (1818),  p.  121. 

■  Gen.  xxxiii-  18,  20;  xlviii.  22.   Josh.  xxiv.  32.    John  iv.  6,  etc 


i 
i 


i;. 


•M 


438 


ISAAO   AND   HIS   SONS. 


Hill 


{! 


lit 


I  ? 


inovemeut,  and  it  had,  for  the  time,  receded.  In  Jacob's 
return,  it  flowed  back  with  permanent  results.  Evvald 
compares  the  now  comers,  as  contrasted  with  other  Arab 
immigrants,  to  the  Franks  among  the  German  invaders 
of  Western  Europe — the  freest,  shrewdest,  most  advanced 
of  their  race ;  under  a  leader  who  reflected  in  his  own 
character,  at  once  the  noblest  and  the  most  iinperfoct 
qualities  of  his  descfmdants.^ 

But  Jacob  is  no  longer  like  Abraham,  only  a  sheph.3rd 
chief,  for  t)\  *  pap*^'  ''al  life  is  r,iving  way  to  the  agricul- 
tural, I'o  tbiso  iiijiliiad  cf  pitchmg  a  tent,  he  "builds  him 
an  house,'*  ai  i  roako  booths  or  huts  for  his  cattle — from 
which  the  place  take  he  name  of  Succoth.^  The  broad 
valley  is  no  longer  open  pasture  land,  but  belongs  to 
Shechem,  a  Ilivite  chief,  who  has  built  a  town  on  one  part 
of  it,  and  to  the  east  of  this,^  Jacob  pitches  his  tent.*  Nor 
has  he  a  thought  of  moving  thence,  but  buys  a  field  for  a 
homestead,  paying  for  it,  no  longer  as  Abraham  had  done, 
when  he  bought  Machpelah,  in  silver  weighed  in  scales, 
but  with  coined  money,  apparently  bearing  on  it  the 
oldest  mark  of  coinage,  the  figure  of  a  lamb.*    Here,  after 

*  Graetz  speaks  of  the  *'  Shepherd  tribe  passing  the  Jordan  on 
m  fine  sunny  day  of  spring,"  (vol.  i.  p.  1)  but  Dr.  Thomson  fixes 
the  time  as  in  autumn,  from  Jacob  having  lambs  with  him  (Gen. 
xxxiii.  13),  and  also  from  his  making  booths  at  Shechem  to  pro- 
tect his  flock..,  a  step  needful  only  in  preparation  for  winter. 
The  Land  and  The  Booh,  p.  205. 

*  The  Booths.  ^  "  Before  the  city,"  east  of  it. 

*  Our  version  says  "  Jacob  came  to  Shalem,"  and  there  is  still 
a  Salem  among  the  hills  on  the  cast  of  the  plain,  ojjposite  Shechem ; 
but  the  word  Shalem  is  thought  by  Miihlau  and  Volck  to  mean  "  in 
Bafety  "  (to  Shechem).     So  Tach,  Knobel,  Delitzsch  and  Kalisch. 

»  Geseniiis,  Thesaurus,  art.  Kesita.  Silver  is  the  only  money 
mentioned  till  David's  time,  when  gold  appears.  The  Phenicians 
used  coin,  other  peoples  still  bartered.  Oh.  xxv.  25.  Michaelia 
Mos.  Becht.,  vol.  ii.  p.  9.    Wiseman's  Lectures,  vol.  ii.  p.  109. 


ISAAC  AND   HIS   SONS. 


439 


)  mean  "  in 


a  time,  lie  soerag  to  have  dug  the  well  ^  which  still  b'^ars 
his  name,  on  his  owq  purchased  grouuJ,  to  prevent  air 
such  disputes  as  had  happened  at  Beersheba,  and  to 
secure  water  for  his  flocks  at  all  times — even  should  ids 
neighbours  forbid  him  the  use  of  tho  forty  spiiuj^s 
\7hicb  a:e  said  tj  run  through  the  valley  ;2  and  hero,  ii 
aicer  days,  Joseph,  now  a  growing  lad,  ordered  that  Irs 
bonei  should  bo  Ouried.  It  was  natural  that,  with  tho^..;^ 
traditions^  Shechem  became  for  Ephraim  what  Uebr.m 
T^  j,s  to  the  whole  race,  and  thiit  it  hence  took  the  foremost 
place  in  the  future  history  of  the  settlement  of  the 
northern  part  of  the  land. 

But  all  did  not  go  on  peacefully  in  this  sweetest  of 
Palestine  valleys.  Tho  treacherous  pi,cking  of  Shoehorn, 
with  its  slaughter  of  all  the  men.  th  loading  off  tho 
women  and  children  as  slaves,  ar  1  ti  taking  all  tho 
cattle  and  property,  speaks  at  o^  :^  l"";!'  the  numbers  of 
Jacob's  people,  and  for  the  deccibfu;  te  'ocity  of  some,  at 
least,  of  his  sons.^    AfLer  such  a     >e^,  it  was  to  be  feared 

*  lb  was  no  slight  undertaking  to  sink  such  a  well,  and  indeed, 
in  Palestine,  it  was  »  more  fumoiis  work  than  the  erection  of  a 
castle  or  a  fortress.  It  is  dug  first  throujjjh  tho  alluvial  soil, 
which  is  lined,  throughout,  with  strong  rough  masonry,  and  then 
through  the  living  rock,  to  an  uuknowu  depth.  It  is  still  about 
75  ft.  deep,  but  so  recently  as  1838  iD  was  30  ft.  deeper ;  each  year 
helping  to  fill  it  up,  from  tho  practice  of  all  who  visit  it,  both 
natives  and  travellers,  throwing  in  stones  to  hear  their  rebound. 
This  custom,  which  may  be  recent,  adding  to  the  accutnulatiou  of 
4000  years,  has  filled  it  up  perluipa  one  half.  The  Bhat't  is  71  foot 
in  diameter,  and  the  whole  work  must  havo  been  the  labour  of 
years,  and  have  been  very  costly* 

2  The  Land  and  The  Booh,  p.  473.    Land  of  Israel,  p.  147. 

•  Reuben  does  nob  seom  to  havo  taken  part  in  it,  perhaps  as 
having  a  special  responsibility  as  the  eldest  (xxxvii.  21 ;  xlii.  22). 
tho  next  eldest,  Simeon  and  Lc  vi,  were  therefore  tho  loaders.  The 

•  See,  My  Life  and  Words  of  Christ,  vol  i.  p.  520. 


»■ 


'  ) 


<,  rt 


t  - 


44.0 


ISAAC    AND    II IB    SONS. 


that  tho  noighbouring  tribo-connoctiona  of  the  ruined 
community  might  join  against  the  strangers  who  had 
acted  so  cruelly,  and  hence  Jacob  determined  to  leave 
tho  district.  Yet  Shechcm  seems  to  liavo  remained 
permanently  in  tho  hands  of  his  people,  for  it  is  it 
apparently  which  he  gave  on  his  death-bed  to  Joseph ; 
when,  with  a  play  on  the  word  used,  characteristic  of  tho 
Hebrews  even  in  their  most  solemn  acts,  ho  assigned 
him  a  "  portion  "  or  rather  "  shoulder,"  more  than  his 
brethren :  Shechcm  bearing  that  meaning.^  Even  in 
the  peaceful  Jacob,  the  fire  of  a  warlike  Arab  chief  seems 
in  a  moment  to  kindle,  when  ho  speaks  of  it  as  '^  taken 
from  the  hands  of  the  Amorites  with  his  sword  and 
bow/* 

The  vow  made  when  at  Bethel  more  than  twenty  years 
before,  on  his  way  to  Harran,  had  not  yet  been  honoured, 
ctnd  it  was  fitting  that  it  should  bo  so,  now  that  Shechem 
must  be  left.  Since  Abraham's  day  circumcision  had 
marked  the  Hebrews  as  the  chosen  people  in  contrast 
to  the  Canaanites  j  but  the  mere  outward  consecration 
to  Jehovah  was  not  enough;  His  exclusive  worship  was 
essential  to  the  fulfilment  of  the  national  covenant  with 
Him.  Eachel's  theft  of  her  father's  "  gods''  had  shown, 
of  itself,  that  the  idolatry  of  Harran  had  a  footing  in  tho 
encampment,  and  it  must  be  rooted  out,  if  possible.  The 
whole  tribe,  therefore,  was  required  to  give  up  everything 
heathen ;  Rachel,  her  father's  gods  or  teraphim  ;  ^  others 


'- 


real  ground  of  offence  on  the  part  of  Shechem  was,  doubtless,  hia 
not  belonging  to  the  tribe;  no  offers  of  honourable  reparation 
availed  anything  against  the  stain  of  a  mixed  marriage. 

*  oh.  xlviii,  22.  Besides,  Joshua  goes  to  Shechem  without  any 
notice  of  having  needed  to  conquer  it.  Josh.  viii.  30-35.  Seo 
Mit4iaeli8,  Mosdisches  llccht,  vol.  i.  p.  126. 

*  The  word  used  is  terapiiira,  vvnich  seem  to  have  been  originally 


i     ! 


ISAAC   AND   HTS   SONS. 


4tl 


the  idols,  which,  it  seoms,  thoy  cherished;  and  those  who 
had  thorn,  tho  ear-rint^s  and  armlet.s,^  used  as  idolatrous 
charms,  and  tho  whole,  when  gatliored,  were  burittd 
under  the  oak  at  Sliechem;  known  hitherto  as  that 
beneath  which  Abraham's  tent  had  been  pitched,  but 
henceforth  as  tho  "oak  of  tho  magicians."^  A  formal 
religious  purification  of  tho  person  and  all  raiment  was 

fignroa,  gonorally  of  smaU  sizo,  and  of  hideous  form,  which  wore 
supposed  to  frij^hten  away  evil  Hpirits  Vom  tho  house  in  which 
they  wore  honoured.  A  small  imago  in  the  Louvre,  supposed  to  bo 
a  teriiplnm,  is  a  frightful  demon  in  its  upper  part,  with  the  body 
of  a  dog,  the  feet  of  an  eagle,  hands  armed  with  lion's  claws,  a 
scorpion's  tail,  a  skeleton  head  witb  the  flesh  half  off  but  the  eyes 
remuiiiing,  goat's  horns  rising  above,  and  four  wings  stretching 
round.  This  image  was  to  be  placed  at  tho  door  or  window,  to 
turn  back  any  demon.  Lenormant's  La  Magie,  p.  48.  M.  Botta 
found  others  afc  ^'horsabad,  in  holes  specially  prepared  for  them, 
under  the  pavement  before  the  gates  of  the  palace.  Thoy  wore 
small  images  of  baked  clay,  of  forms  as  frightful  as  that  of  the 
one  at  tho  Louvre.  See  quotation  in  full  in  Mill's  Nahliis,  p.  5L 
Teraphim  is  a  plural  form,  perhaps  from  their  always,  apparently, 
consiating  of  parts  of  different  beings.  The  root  seems  to  mean 
"  to  strike  with  fear,"  but  Gesenius  {Thesaurus,  p.  1518)  gives  a 
different  origin.  The  worship  of  teraphim  continued  in  Israel 
till  the  oxile  (Ewald's  Alt,  p.  256;  Gesch.,  vol.  i.  p.  462),  but  tho 
subject  will  be  better  treated  at  a  later  period.  One  is  reminded, 
while  on  this  subject,  of  tho  name  of  Germanicus,  graven  on  lead 
talismans,  magic  characters,  and  other  enchantments,  found  on  the 
ground  and  round  the  walls  of  that  doomed  man's  house,  and  re- 
garded evea  by  Tacitus  as  bearing  on  his  death.     Annal,  ii.  49. 

'  It  is  carious  to  note  that  our  word  cameo  is  the  Aramaic 
Kamea  =  an  amulet,  worn  to  guard  the  person  from  magical  charms 
See  Amulete,  in  Winer  and  Eiehm.  Ear-rings  were  worn  for  the 
same  purpose.  They  were  apparently  engraved  with  magical 
characters  or  idolatrous  signs.  We  read  in  Hosoa  ii.  13,  of  "  ear- 
rings of  Biialim." 

3  Judges  ix.  37.  Translated  in  our  version,  '•  The  plain  ot 
Meonenim." 


'/  ii 


442 


ISAAC   AND   HIS   SONS. 


;■ 


likowi'so  enforood,  in  preparation  for  a  renewed  con- 
secration of  the  wliolo  coniinunity  to  tho  Worship  of  the 
God  of  JJ(?thel  jiloiie,  at  that  venerated  sanctuary. 

The  later  years  of  tho  patriarcli  breathe  a  spirit  of 
religious  fidelity  becoming  such  an  act.  At  Bethel  ho 
builds  an  altar  alongside  the  memorial  stone  raised  to 
Him  who  "  answered  him  in  the  day  of  his  distress,  and 
was  with  him  in  tho  way  which  ho  went/'  and  consecrated 


RicnuL's  Srfl'icubb. 


it  by  a  drink  offering  and  anointing.  But  this  devotion 
was  soon  disturbed  by  tho  shadow  of  trouble.  Rebekah 
was  dead,  but  Deborah,  the  nurse  of  her  childhood  and 
her  bosom  friend  to  the  last,  had  come  to  close  her  days 
in  the  tents  of  the  favourite  son — and  now  she  also  passed 
away  amidst  such  general  grief,  that  the  tree  under  which 
she  was  buried  received  the  name  of  tho  ''oak  of  weeping. 


f> 


ISAAC   AND   HIS   SONS. 


443 


A  still  greater  trial,  however,  was  near.  After  per- 
haps fifteen  or  sixteen  years  from  the  birth  of  Joseph, 
Raehel  died,  at  the  birth  of  a  second  son,  and  Jacob  had 
to  bury  hor  *' in  the  way  to  Ephrath,  whicli  is  lii'tldeheni. 
And  Jacob  set  a  pillar  upon  her  grave :  that  is  tho 
pillar  of  Rachel's  grave  unto  this  day."  It  has  long  dis- 
appeared, but  a  tomb,  raised  apparently  on  the  same  spot, 
still  preserves  its  memory.  How  tenderly  ho  loved  her, 
even  to  tho  last  hour  of  his  life,  appears  in  repeated 
touches.  Her  infant  is  to  her  "  as  her  soul  was  in  depart- 
ing,'* Benoni — "  the  son  of  my  anguish ;  "  but  to  his 
father  he  is  Benjamin,  "  the  son  of  his  right  hand,"  that 
is,  of  his  good  fortune.  At  the  loss  of  his  son  Joseph 
he  "  refuses  to  be  comforted  and  will  go  down  into  the 
grave,*  to  my  son,  mourning,"  and  in  his  last  words  to 
Joseph's  sons,  before  he  died  in  Egypt,  forty  years  after 
her  death,  he  repeats  the  whole  story  of  her  being  taken 
away  from  him,  as  tenderly  as  if  it  had  happened  bub 
yesterday. 

Moving  his  desolate  tent  only  a  little  way  from  the 
grave,  to  "the  watch-tower  of  the  flocks," ^  ho  rested  for 
a  time  near  a  spot  so  holy ;  then,  moved  on  slowly  to 
Hebron ;  "  for  the  children  were  tender,  and  the  flocks 
and  herds  with  young  were  with  him,  and  if  men  should 
overdrive  them  one  day,  all  the  flock  would  die." ' 
There,  in  the  scenes  of  his  youth  and  boyhood,  he  once 
more  saw  his  father;  and  with  him,  or  near,  he  stayed, 

*  The  grave  =  Sheol,  the  region  of  the  dead,  is  the  word  used. 
It  means  "the  hollow."  In  Job  xi.  8,  the  depth  of  Sheol  is 
Siid  to  be  only  less  wonderful  than  "the  depth"  (p^.'fection) 
**o^God"  (ver.  7).  The  Shades  of  the  dead  wore  there  in  dark- 
ness (Job  X.  22). 

>  Micah  iv.  8.     Migdal  Edar. 

*  Chap,  xxxiii.  13.  For  the  risk  of  over-driving  flooka  in  Pales- 
tine, SCO  Ths  Land  and  The  Booh,  p.  331. 


<> 


x: 


! 


i:.! 


■i  J 


!  i 


444 


ISAAC   AND   HIS   SONS. 


dutifully,  till  the  old  man  died.  Esau  had  long  ago 
finally  left  Canaan,  preferring  the  rough  mountains  of 
Seir,  with  their  life  of  adventure  and  plunder,  to  the  quiet 
monotony  of  pastoral  or  agricultural  toil  ',  but  ho  and 
Jacob  met  once  more  at  the  burial  of  Isaac  ir  the  Cave 
of  Machpelah,  beside  Abraham,  8arah,  and  Rebekah. 

Always  as  much  inclined  to  sow  and  reap,  as  to  follow 
a  pastoral  life,^ — for  Isaac's  fields  and  sheaves,  long  ago. 


m 


if 


II  ii 


6HSPBEBDS*  RbFUGE  ToWEB. 

Trom  "  L'Egyptc—Etat  Moi§m.'* 

in  Gerar,  had  turned  his  tastes  that  way — Jacob  settled 
down  in  tho  district  dear  to  him  from  the  memories  o£ 
his  youth,  and  "  dwelt  in  the  land  wherein  his  father  was 
a  stranger/'  Thence,  however,  his  docks'  were  led  far 
and  near,  as  pasture  offered,  for  we  find  thera  as  far  uort)i 
as  Shechem.  It  was  in  the  pai^turcs  of  its  broad  valley 
that  Joseph  found  his  brethren  when  sent  from  his  father 

*  Chap,  xxxvil  7. 


ii'  •. 


j  II 


ISAAC   ANP   HIS   SONS. 


445 


at  Hebron  to  ask  after  their  welfare,  and  it  was  at  Dothan, 
or  Dothain — the  two  wells — now  Tell  Dothan,  north  of 
Samaria,  among  the  hills  of  Gilboa,^  that  the  Arab  cara- 
van to  which  he  was  sold  was  seen  toiling  along  the  road 
which  stretches  from  Bethlehem  over  the  plains  of  Es- 
draelon  towards  the  great  sea-coast  road  to  Egypt. 

Nor  is  it  without  interest  to  find  that  Dr.  Clarke  met 
precisely  here  a  caravan  of  Ishmaelitish  spice  traders, 
**  who  certainly  would  have  been  glad  to  have  bought 
another  Joseph,  to  carry  him  off  to  Egypt,"  ^  while 
Canon  Tristram,  riding  along  the  ridge  of  the  hill,  above 
the  little  plain,  vrhich  still  ranks  as  the  best  pasturage  in 
the  country ;  in  the  same  way  saw,  below,  a  long  caravan 
of  mules  and  asses,  laden,  on  their  way  from  Damascus 
to  the  valley  of  the  Nile.'"*  The  two  wells  are  still  in 
existence  in  the  valley,  one  of  them  even  now  bearing  the 
name  of  the  "  pit  of  Joseph."  It  is  about  three  feet  in 
diameter  and  at  least  thirty  feet  deep,  the  walls  lined 
with  masonry,  but  the  bottom  hewn  out  of  the  rock.  Yet, 
as  the  water  in  it  never  dries  up,  it  is  hard  to  imagine 
that  it  can  be  the  actual  well  into  which  Joseph  was  cast.* 
Dothan  now  shows  little  more  than  a  wilderness  of  cactus 
or  prickly-pear  bushes,  yet  within  even  a  few  years  past 
it  was  richly  planted  with  citrons,  oranges,  and  pome- 
granates, but  they  were  destroyed  by  some  troops  sent 
from  Nablus,  to  quell  a  local  disturbance.® 

^  Conder's  Handbook,  p.  409.    Billniann,  p.  408.      The  Land 
and  The  Book,  p.  466. 
«  Travels  by  Dr.  E.  D.  Clarke  (London,  1822). 

*  Land  of  Israel,  p.  134 

*  Burckliardt's  Travels  in  Syria  (1822),  p.  318. 

'  Guerin,  Descrijition  de  la  Palestine,  vol.  ii.  p.  310.  The  cara« 
vans  come  up  the  Ghor  Beisan,  pass  by  Terin  and  Lejjun,  enter 
the  hill  country  of  Samaria  by  the  valley  of  Doiliaitn,  and  tlion 
go  on  to  Ramlob,  Gaza,  and  Egypt.  The  Land  and  The  Book,  p.  4G0. 


fU 


I 


m 


'1    1 


i^ 


446 


ISAAC  ANU  HIS  SONS. 


I      11 


The  close  of  Jacob's  life  saw  the  second  temporary 
mrnigratiou  of  the  Hebrews  to  Egypt — this  time  to  stay 
there  for  centuries.  But  this  wider  sphere  belongs  to  a 
future  chapter.  The  valley  of  the  Nile  was  destined,  in 
Providence,  to  be  the  shelter  iiud  nursery  of  Israel  tiJl  it 
sli(  ul  I  grow  from  a  tribe  to  a  nation.  "  Fear  not,"  said 
che  Divine  voice  in  a  vision,  "  to  go  down  into  Egypt,  for 
1  will  there  make  of  thee  a  great  nation ;  I  will  go  down 
with  thee  into  Egypt,  and  I  will  also  surely  bring  thee  up 
again,  and  Joseph  will  put  his  hand  upon  thine  eyf  a,"  to 
close  them  in  death.  Thither,  therefore,  ov3r  the  up- 
lands of  Beersheba,  and  through  the  gates  of  the  frontier 
wall,  the  patriarch  went ;  to  meet  his  long  lost  son  again, 
and  to  stand  before  the  great  Pharaoh.  And  there,  in 
the  fulness  of  time,  when  he  felt  himself  dying,  he  left  the 
command ;  in  striking  illustration  of  his  abiding  trust  in 
the  covenant  of  God  with  his  race ;  that  his  bones  should 
not  rest  in  the  gorgeous  sepulchres  of  the  Nile,  but 
beside  those  of  his  fathers  in  the  Cave  of  Machpelah ;  a 
pledge  to  his  descendants  of  their  future  inheritance  of 
the  land  of  which  their  leaders  had  thus  in  death  takeu 
possession. 


^  i) 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

JOSEPH. 

an  HE  return  of  Jacob  to  Canaan  was  tlio  first  great 
-  step  towards  the  formation  of  a  Hebrew  people. 
Hitherto  the^e  had  been  only  individuals  of  the  race ;  bu*; 
with  the  family  of  Jacob  it  branched  into  numerous  heads 
of  the  future  tribes  of  Israel.  The  formal  and  solemn 
acceptance  of  the  traditional  faith  of  Abraham,  by  these 
at  Bethel,  determined  henceforth  the  history  of  Israel  as 
identified  with  the  perpetuation  and  spread  among  man- 
kind of  the  great  doctrine  of  the  Unity  of  God,  and  of 
the  high  standard  of  life  which  was  known  as  "  the  way 
of  Jehovah."^  They  had  already  been  separated  from 
the  idolatrous  nations  around  by  circumcision — a  sign  of 
dedication  to  God  borne  about  on  their  persons — and 
had  come  to  regard  it  as  a  badge  of  proud  super)  ority.^ 
Everything  which  connected  them  with  idolatry  had  been 
ignominiously  buried  beneath  the  oak  at  Moreh,  and, 
at  Bethel,  they  had,  further,  solemnly  forsworn  it  as  a 
community.  If  Abraham  was  the  first  preacher  of  God 
and  His  righteousness,  the  honour  is  due  to  Jacob  of 
first  having  established  the  great  patriarch's  belief  as 
the  accepted  faith  of  the  Heorew  race. 

But  Canaan  offered  no  facilities  for  the  development  of 

*  Gen.  xviii.  19.  '^  Gen.  xxxiv.  14. 

Mr 


i 


M 


448 


JOSEPH. 


i' 


.■1 


i 


!i        « 


the  nationality  thus  begun,  while  iu  tha  aoighbonrin]^ 
Egypt,  the  great  oasis  of  Arab  geography^  every  condi- 
tion was  at  hand.  Thither,  therefore,  in  the  all-wise 
Providence  of  God,  the  embryo  people  were  transferred, 
and  that  by  an  agency  the  most  unlikely  to  bring  it  about 
— the  sale  of  one  brother  by  the  others,  as  a  slave,  to  a 
passing  Ishmaelite  caravan. 

The  story  of  Joseph  is  too  universally  known  to  need 
recapitulation  in  detail,  but  the  illustrations  it  affords  of 
Eastern  and  Egyptian  manners  are  at  once  so  interesting, 
and  so  confirmatory  of  the  Bible  narrative,  that  they 
may  w«ll  command  our  attention.  Intended  to  follow 
th«  shepherd  lite,  Joseph  first  comes  bcToir  us  as 
learning  the  craft,  under  his  half  brothers,^  the  sons  of 
Bilhah  and  Zilpah,  and  incurring  their  hatred  by  letting 
their  fat^jer  know  their  manner  of  life.  Only  seven- 
teen, and  alike  simple  and  pure,  he  was  naturally  a 
favourite  with  Jacob,  now  at  least  a  hundred  years  old, 
and  he  was  still  more  ho  as  the  elder  son  of  his  best  loved 
and  now  lost  wife,  Rachel.  Nor  did  the  fond  weakness 
of  old  age  try  to  hide  his  partiality,  for  while  all  his  other 
sons  had  the  common  shepherd^s  coat,  reaching  to  the 
knees  only,  and  without  sleeves,  he  had  one  reaching  to 
the  ankles,  with  sleeves  to  the  wrists,^  and  very  possibly 
of  tine  Egyptian  linen.  Thovgh  not  necersarily  implied 
in  the  Hebrew  words  used,  it  may  have  been  of 
"many''  colours,    for   in   the   tomb   at   Beni   Hassan, 

*  The  words  "  the  lad  was  with,"  are  tranHlated  **  and  he  was  a 
Bervaut  with,"  by  Gesenius  and  Knobel. 

2  "Not  a  coat  of  many  colours."  Kdinpltauserif  arts.  Farbenj 
Kleider,  in  Bichm.  Gcs.,  Thea  .  p.  1117  a,  a  garment  long  and 
fiill.  worn  by  the  children  of  nobles.  Or,  pcrliaps  a  parti-coioured 
robe,  with  sleeves  and  reaohiiig  to  the  feot,  Jos  ,  Ant,  vii.  &,  1. 
2  Sar ,  xlii.  18. 


JOSEPH. 


449 


the  sons  of 


•*  and  he  was  a 


Semitic  visitors  are  seen  dressetd  in  robes  of  whito,  red 
and  bhie,  apparently  made  of  a  patchwork  of  separate 
small  pieces.  It  is,  moreover,  usual  still  in  the  East  to 
dress  favourite  children  in  this  v.^y.  Purple,  scarier,  and 
other  colours  are  pieced  together  with  great  taste,  or 
the  jackets  worn  are  embroidered  with  gold,  and  silk  cf 
different  shade^.^  The  Turks  at  Hahjb,  Rauwulf  tells  us, 
have  the  same  custom  with  their  growing  sons.'  Such  a 
dress  of  honour  may  have  seemed  to  foreshadow  Joseph's 
being  made  the  heir,  especially  as  Reuben  and  the  elder 
sons  had  lost  their  father^s  favour  by  their  misconduct. 
In  any  case,  it  roused  jealous  anger,  which  was  only  to 
be  abated  by  the  lad's  death  or  his  being  sent  away. 
The  incident  of  the  pit  ^  is  quite  in  keeping  with  Eastern 
customs,  for  underground  CiSterns  abounded  in  Pales- 
tine, and  when  dry,  were  so  often  used  for  a  dungeon — 
escape  from  them  being  impossible,*  from  their  frequently 
bottle-like  shape — that  the  Hebrew  word  for  them  also 
means  a  prison.*   The  passage  of  an  Arab  caravan  towards 

*  T.  Smith's  Jose  I  \  p.  1.     Roberta'  Oriental  Illustrations, 

*  Rosenmiiller,  A.  und  N.  Morgenland,  vol.  i.  p.  174. 

*  They  agree  not  -o  put  him  to  a  violent  deut/h,  but  to  leave  hira 
in  the  dry  rain-cistern  to  starve  to  death. 

*  The  Canaanites  had  already  dug  many  such  cisterns  (Deut. 
vi.  11)  over  the  whole  land  (Neh.  ix.  25).  To\v  ts,  fields,  and  pas- 
tures alike  needed  them  in  a  country  largely  ependent  on  rain- 
water as  Palesjino  always  was.  Agricult!  and  grazing  also 
imperatively  required  them,  and  hence  any  who  devoted  him- 
eelf  largely  to  these  had  to  dig  many,  a  'i  the  case  of  King 
Uzziah  (2  Chron.  xxvi  10).  The  Moabite  one  of  King  ]\Ieza, 
orders  every  house  in  Korcha  Dibon  to  have  one  to  catch  tlie 
rain-water.  It  was  such  a  cistern  as  lat  into  which  Joseph 
was  put  that  Jeremiah  had  ^!or  a  dunji;con  (Jer.  xxxviii.  6;  Lam. 
iii.  53).  They  were  generally  covered  over  with  a  great  stone. 
Winer.    Biehmi  art.  Brunnen. 

°  Bxod.  xii.  29.     Isa.  xxiv.  22.    Jer.  xxxvii.  16. 


VOL.   I. 


0  G 


4o0 


JOSEPH. 


Egypt,'  and  its  purcliase  of  Joseph,  is  equally  true  to 
early  times,  and  to  the  unchanging  Eastern  life  of  to- 
day. Sir  Samuel  Baker's  boy,  Saat,  had,  in  the  same  way 
as  Joseph,  been  carried  off,  while  ho  was  tending  goats,  by 
an  Arab  caravan  j  hidden  in  a  gum  sack,  and  finally  taken 
to  Cairo  and  sold  as  a  slave.*  "  All  the  world  may 
perish,  so  far  as  we  care,"  said  an  Arab  to  Niebuhr,  "  if 
only  Egypt  remains."  And  it  was  left  to  them  even  more 
in  Joseph's  day  than  now,  from  the  dislike  of  Egyptians  to 
leave  their  country  even  for  purposes  of  gain.  The  trade 
in  '*  spices  "  was  exceptionally  great  between  the  valley 
of  the  Nile  and  neighbouring  countries ;  from  the  quan- 
tity used  for  embalming  mummies,  for  burning  as  incense, 
cr  as  disiirfectants;  for  which  they  were  in  great  repute. 
Even  the  names  of  the  first  and  second  of  the  three 
spices  named — gum  tragacanth,^  from  Lebanon  and 
Palestine  generally,  Armenia  and  Persia;  balsam  from 
the  balsam-tree  of  Gilead ;  and  ladanum — the  gum  col- 
lected still  from  the  leaves  of  the  cistus-rose — from  Syria 
and  Arabia,  have  been  found  in  the  list  of  200  drugs 
named  in  the  temple-laboratory  of  Edfu ;  for  each  temple 
had  its  laboratory  and  apothecary.*     Even  the  twenty 


1-7  ! 


« 


*  The  name  "  Midianitea  "  is  used  for  the  caravan  as  well  as 
Islimaelites  " — as  equivalent  to  "  trader  " — just    as    the  word 

''Canaanite"  is  similarly  used.  Both  peoplea,  moreover,  were 
descendants  of  Abraham,  and  Arabs  "  One  needs  to  go  to 
Egypt,"  says  Ebers,  "  .  .  .  to  see  the  brown-skinned  children 
of  Israel,  who  brought  camels  richly  laden  from  the  East  to  the 
Nile.  They  are  there  drawn  to  the  life  on  the  monuments." 
2  Baker's  Albert  Nyanza,  p.  85. 

*  Translated  *'  spici  ry  "  m  our  version. 

*  Ebers' J5/^?/2?^e?i,  etc.,  pp.  290  ff  Diimichen,  Tempelinschriftenf 
Edfu,T&t  52-75.  GeograpMschelnschrif ten,  T&t  80-100.  The  trade 
with  Egypt,  as  shown  by  the  vegetable  remains  found  in  the 
tombs  near  the  pyramids,  included,  amongst  other  things,  juni- 


JOSEPH, 


451 


pieces  of  silver  given  for  Joseph  are  exactly  the  price 
fixed  under  Moses  as  that  of  a  male  slave  between  live 
and  twenty  years  of  age  j^  so  nearly  had  human  beiuga 
kept  the  same  value  for  centuries. 

The  existence  of  slavery  in  Egypt  is  strikingly  illus- 
trated by  countless  pictures  of  slaves  of  both  sexes,  and 
of  every  colour,  on  the  monuments,  and  still  more  so  by 
the  existence  to  this  day  of  manuscripts  in  which  discon- 
solate owners  offer  rewards  to  any  who  will  bring  back 
fugitive  slaves.  One  of  these  is  an  advertisement  by 
Prince  Atefamen,  a  son  of  Ranieses  II.,  the  groat  task- 
master of  the  Jews  before  the  Exodus ;  and  it  is  further 
certain  that  among  these  slaves  were  Hebrews  and  others 
of  Semitic  blood,^  since  under  Rameses  II.  the  Hebrew 
v/ord  for   slave — ebed — ia   often   used,  and  we   read  of 


rip- 


per berries  from  Phenicia ;  cedar-wood  for  sarcophagi,  wooflen 
imsigea,  etc.  ;  cedar  and  pine  resin;  f^p-ns  to  bind  the  muintny 
cloths;  myrrh,  incense.  The  Great  r^i.^  Papyrns  recounts 
amonj^  the  gifts  presented  by  Ramesea  HI.  to  the  temples, 
immense  quantities  of  incense,  wax,  oil,  periuraes,  honey,  f*tc., 
etc.  The  list,  in  endless  variety,  fills  twentj-four  pages  of 
Records  of  the  Fast,  vol.  vi.  pp.  23  ff. 

The  very  names  of  two  of  the  three  **  spices  "  carried  to  Egypt 
by  Joseph's  caravan  are  named  in  the  papyri — the  balm  and  tlie 
gum  tragacanth — the  same  words  being  used  for  them  as  in  the 
Hebrew  Bible.  Ladanum,  the  third  mentioned  in  Genesis,  ia 
often  found  in  the  mummy  oases,  and  its  odour  may  be  detected 
among  those  of  other  materials  used  in  embalming  the  mummies. 
These  three  substances,  moreover,  are  stiH  principal  articles  of 
commerce  between  the  East  and  Egypt.    Vlgouroux,  vol.  ii.  p.  17. 

*  Lev.  xxvii.  5. 

'  Syrian  slaves  sold  in  the  bazaars  of  Memphis  or  Thebes  were 
in  special  demand,  and  brought  a  very  high  price.  Syrians  and 
negroes  were  used,  among  other  ways,  to  run  before  their  mas- 
ter's  chariot  in  the  streets  ;  a  gold  cane  in  their  hand,  or  a  whip^ 
guiding  the  horgeis  and  clearing  the  way 


filiii: 


<      11 


452 


JOSEPH. 


Syrian  slaved^  who,  indeed,  were  prized  raoro  than  any 
others,  as  was  afterwards  the  case  in  Greece  and  Rome. 
It  was  therefore  a  fortunate  ohance  for  the  Ishmaclites  to 
secure  Joseph,  a  Syrian,  for  the  Et^^yptian  market.  The 
special  value  of  such  slaves  is  strikingly  shown  by  the 
fact,  that  in  the  treaty  of  Riimosos  II.  with  the  Khetas, 
we  find  a  clause  providing  that  fugitives,  who  miglit 
flee  to  Syria,  should  bo  sent  back  to  Egypt,*  and  there 
still  remains  a  letter  of  a  scribe  to  hia  father,  the  prophet 
Ramessu,  of  Herraopolis,  telling  all  his  adventures  in  an 
attempt  to  recover  a  runaway.* 

The  name  of  Potiphar,  the  Egyptian  by  whom  Joseph 
was  bought,  isstriotly  Egyptian,  and  means  ono'Medicated 
to  Ra,"  the  Sun  god;  whose  worship  had  its  great  centre 
at  Heliopolis,  in  the  south  of  Lower  Egypt,  close  to 
Memphis,  the  favourite  residence  of  the  Pharaoh  of 
Joseph's  time,  a  great  patron  of  the  worship  of  Ra, 
The  court  of  this  king,  like  that  of  the  other  Pharaohs, 
abounded  with  officials  of  every  kind — Privy  Councillors, 
King's  Relations,  Masters  of  the  Horse,  Directors  of  the 
Court  Music,  Astrologers  and  Interpreters  of  Dreams, 
I  ibrarians,  Ministers  of  Public  Buildings  and  of  Tombs, 
C  liefs  of  the  Palace,  Treasurers  of  the  Household  and  of 
the  Kingdom ;  and,  not  to  make  the  list  too  long,  royal 
Fan-bearers,  who  seem  to  have  been  the  highest  civil 
officers  of  the  Court  and  to  have  stood  at  the  Pharaoh's 
right  hand.  On  tho  left  side,  as  the  unprotected  and 
weak  one,  stood  the  chief  military  officers  who  formed  a 
kind  of  special  bodyguard,  though  there  was  also  a 
a  force  of  guards,  2,000  men  strong,  'who  were  better 

»  Ehers,  p.  294.     liiehm,  760. 
*  Maspcro,  p.  223. 

■  Chabas,  Melanges  Egyptotogigues,  3rd  series,  vol.  i.  p.  231, 
Soury,  in  the  lievue  des  Deux  Mondes  (15th  Feb.,  1875),  p.  808. 


I 


JOSEPH. 


4r)3 


paid  than  tho  soldiers  of  tho  line.  But  Potipliar  could 
scarcely  have  boon  head  of  this  force,  as  it  was  chanj^ctl 
each  year,  while  he  lived  permanently  at  Memnhis.  It 
seems,  rathe. ,  that  he  was  at  tho  head  of  what  wo  may  call 
the  Egyptian  State  police,  which  formed  one  of  the  corps 
of  the  army,  though  largely  employed  in  civil  duties.^ 

This  body  was  already  numerous  and  well  organized  in 
very  ancient  times,  and  had  very  extensive  duties ;  fci-  it 
was  the  law  that  every  citizen  had  to  appear  yearly  before 
the  Police  Superintendent  of  hii  district,  and  show  how 
ho  made  his  living  j  t,ny  false  statement  being  punished 
with  death. 

In  Egypt,  as  in  the  Austria  of  to-day,  fiverything  was 
written  down.  The  whole  populaiion  of  each  "Nomos," 
or  district,  gathered  under  its  standard,  were  enrolled 
singly  by  scribes  in  a  register,  on  a  fixed  day ;  even  the 
slaves  being  thus  entered  on  the  official  lists.  There  is, 
indeed,  a  picture  of  such  a  yearly  assembling,  on  one  of 
the  monuments  of  the  19fch  dynasty.*  Nor  was  this  more 
than  a  small  part  of  the  duties  of  the  State  police.  They 
were  charged  with  the  detection  and  punishment  of 
criminals;  the  pursuit  and  recapture  of  fugitive  slaves ; 
the  safe  wa,tching  of  the  countless  prisoners  of  war ;  and 
the  due  execution  of  tho  forced  labour  of  the  people  on 
public  works,  and  of  the  toil  of  the  public  slaves  at 
their  set  tasks.  Duties  so  varied  required  a  large  body 
of  men,  and  hence,  besides  scribes  and  officials  charged 
with  administering  punishments^,  there  had  been  organized, 
at  least  as  early  as  the  time  of  Abraham,  a  kind  of  gen- 
darmerie corps,  originally  of  foreigners ;  and  with  these 
were  joined  other  bands  of  foreign  soldiery,  raised  from 
Sardinia  and  elsewhere,  who  formed  part  of  the  personal 


fH 


Vkjouygux,  vol.  ii.  p.  28. 


Wilkinson,  vol.  ii.  p.  33. 


451 


JOSEPH. 


■  I 


Btnto  and  protection  of  tho  Pharaoh.  Over  tho  whole 
thoro  was  necessarily  a  head  officer,  who,  like  the  chiefs  of 
other  departrneuta  of  government,  was  attached  to  the 
court,  under  the  sounding  title  of  *'the  two  e}'es  of  the 
King  of  Upper,  and  the  two  ears  of  the  King  of  Lower 
Egypt." 

It  is  probable  that  this  was  the  dignity  held  by  Poti- 
phar,  for  it  would  give  him  precisely  the  duties  which  we 
find  assigned  to  him — the  charge  of  prisoners  and  prisons, 
and  of  bodily  punishments  and  executions.^ 

The  position  of  Joseph,  as  head  over  all  the  slave"  in 
his  master's  house,  and  over  all  the  household  affairs,  was 
one  which  constantly  presents  itself  from  tho  earliest 
times  on  the  monuments  and  in  the  literature  of  Egypt. 
Every  great  family  had  a  slave  thus  placed  over  all  the 
rest,  and  indeed,  Joseph  himself,  after  his  elevation,  had 
such  a  majordomo.  Wherever  grain  is  being  measured, 
or  metal  weighed,  or  building  or  agricultural  work  is 
going  forward,  the  paintings  show  us  the  head-overseer 
of  the  household  with  a  short  rod  in  his  hand,  or  with  a 
writing  tablet  in  his  hand  and  a  pen  behind  his  ear ;  to 
take  down  the  number  of  sheaves,  or  of  casks,  or  of  the 
cattle  or  flocks,  and,  like  Joseph,  he  is  expressly  described 
as  the  "  overseer."  There  were  under-overseers  of  slaves, 
of  the  herds,  etc.,  but  the  chief  under  whom  all  stood 
ranked  very  much  higher  than  his  subordinates,  and  was 
honoured  by  the  special  title  of  "  governor  of  the  house." 
In  one  papyrus,  a  "  head-overseer  of  the  cattle "  is 
mentioned,  who,  stirred  by  ambition,  betakes  himself  to 
magic,  and  comes  to  a  sad  end ;  and  there  is  hardly  a 
tomb  of  the  rich,  in  the  wall  paintings  of  which  jve  do 

»  Ehcrs,  pp.  295-303.  Ebers'  Konigstochter,  vol.  i.  p.  205,  n.  23, 
yol.  ii.  p.  6,  n.  7.  liiehm,  p.  760.  Dillmaim  calls  him  "  Captain  o£ 
the  palace  guard."     Genesis,  on  the  verse. 


,^8fiPH. 


455 


not  meet  with  counterparts  of  Joseph's  poaitiou  in  the 
housc'liulil  of  Putipluir.^ 

These  stninj^e  palaces  of  the  dead,  in  fact,  bring  before 
us  "iontiniiHlly  the  economy  of  great  Egyptian  estal)liHh- 
ments,  such  as  he  had  to  superintend  in  all  its  depart- 
ments ;  for  his  office  set  him  not  only  over  the  interior  of 
the  house,  but  over  the  varied  labours  of  tlie  field  and 
of  the  estate.  Nor  wps  it  a  slight  responsibility;  for 
Egyptian  courtiers  were  often  immensely  rich,  and  not 
a  few  of  them  take  care  to  tell  us  in  their  tomb-inscrip- 
tions exactly  the  number  of  their  cattle  of  every  kind. 
One,  for  example,  states  that  ho  had  835  oxen,  220  cows 
and  calves,  700  asses,  2,235  goat-like  sheep,  and  971> 
goats;  while  another  boasts  of  having  possessed  405 
cattle  of  ono  kind,  1,237  of  a  second,  l,3G0  of  a  third, 
1,220  calves,  and  so  on,  while  his  geese,  ducks,  and  doves 
were  numbered  by  thousands.^  Country  houses  and 
gardens  are  shown  by  the  tombs  to  h[i,ve  been  an  especial 
delight  of  the  wealthy,  and  these  mansions  have  so  many 
storehouses  in  them  that  an  overseer  was  evidently  in- 
dispensable. Rooms  are  seen  full  of  flagons,  jars,  and 
vessels  of  every  sliaf)e  and  of  the  most  varied  contents- 
gold  and  silver  plate,  dried  fish,  bread,  bars  of  metal, 
etc.^  In  such  a  huge  establishment  the  clear  head  and 
high  principle  of  a  man  like  Joseph  would  be  invalu- 
able, and  it  is  only  what  might  have  been  expected  when 
we  read  that  "  seeing  he  had  him,  Potiphar  concerned 
himself  about  nothiiig  "  *  except  his  food,  which  the  strict 
Egyptian  laws  of  ceremonial  cleanness  and  uncleannesa 

^  Prisse  d' Avenues,  Monuments  Egyptiena  (1847),  pi.  41.  Wil- 
kinson, vol.  ii.  p.  130.  Hengstenberg,  Die  Biioher  Moses,  p.  23. 
Ebivs,  p.  304 

2  Brugsch,  Grdherwelt,  p.  47. 

•  WUklnson,  vol.  ii.  p.  12i).    Ehers,  p.  304.  *  Gen,  xxxix.  6 


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456 


JOSEPH. 


would  n:  t  permit  a  foreigner,  especially  of  the  shepherd 
caste,  to  touch. 

The  relation  of  husband  and  wife,  as  implied  in  the 
story  of  Potiphar's  wife,  has  been  objected  to  as  not  in 
keeping  with  a  state  of  society  like  that  of  the  Egyptians. 
But  the  paintings  on  the  tombs  and  temples  show  with 
how  little  reason  this  criticism  has  been  made.  So  far 
from  being  secluded  from  each  other,  the  two  sexes  sat 
together  at  their  parties  and  mingled  freely  in  daily  life, 
as  may  be  seen  in  the  pictures  copied  by  Wilkinson.^  In 
one  of  these  the  guests,  of  both  sexes,  sit,  in  company, 
in  their  best  adornment,  each  smelling  a  lotos  flower  j 
while  a  female  slave  hands  round  the  cup.  The  buffet 
is  laden  with  every  delicacy — fruits,  pastry,  cooked 
fowl,  and  jars  of  many  kinds  of  drinks ;  naked  female 
dancers,  meanwhile,  entertaining  the  party  with  their 
skill,  to  the  music  of  a  band  of  women ;  one  of  whom  is 
playing  on  a  flute,  while  the  others  set  the  time  by  mea- 
sured clapping  of  their  hands,  accompanied,  it  is  likely, 
with  their  voices.  In  the  other  picture,  the  company  is 
also  made  up  of  both  ladies  and  gentlemen.  Some  slaves 
are  putting  necklaces,  as  ornaments,  round  the  necks  of 
the  invited,  while  others  carry  napkins,  apparently  for  the 
use  of  those  whom  they  may  serve ;  to  wipe  their  lips  or 
hands.  Women,  indeed,  appear  to  have  had  exceptional 
freedom  and  privileges  in  Egypt,  if  we  may  credit  the 
ancients ;  for  Herodotus  says  that  they  went  to  market 
while  the  men  sat  and  wove  at  home,  and  that  the  duty  of 
providing  for  aged  parents  lay  on  the  daughters,  and  not 
on  the  sons.^  Diodorus,  moreover,  asserts  that  on  the 
Nile  the  queen  was  more  honoured  than  the  king,  and  that 
wives  ruled  their  husbands,  who  were  required  in  their 

1  Wilkinson's  Ancient  Egyptians,  vol.  i.  pp.  142, 143. 
*  Herod.,  ii.  35. 


he  shepherd 

plied  in  the 
to  as  not  in 
e  Egyptians. 
5S  show  with 
lade.     So  far 
5W0  sexes  sat 
^  in  daily  life, 
ilkinson.^    In 
,  in  company, 
lotos  flower  ; 
,.     The  buffet 
astry,   cooked 
naked  female 
,rty  with  their 
ne  of  whom  is 
^  time  by  mea- 
ed,  it  is  likely, 
ihe  company  is 
Some  slaves 
ad  the  necks  of 
)arently  for  the 
pe  their  lips  or 
lad  exceptional 
may  credit  the 
7ent  to  market 
bhat  the  duty  of 
ghters,  and  not 
rts  that  on  the 
e  king,  and  that 
quired  in  their 

,p.  142,  U3. 


JOSEPH. 


457 


marriage  contracts  to  promise  due  obedience  to  thoii 
spouses  !  ^ — an  extraordinary  arrangement  which  the 
monuments,  at  least  in  part,  corroborate.  In  most  cases 
the  wife  is  spoken  of  as  the  "  mistress  of  the  house,^'  or 
"  the  great  house  mistress,"  and  the  name  of  the  mother 
stands  always  on  a  line  with  that  of  the  father,  but  fre- 
quently before  it,  while  the  sons  are  often  named  only  after 
their  mothers.^  At  many  receptions  of  foreign  ambassadors 
the  queen  has  the  precedence.  In  almost  all  the  graves 
and  mummy  papyri,  man  and  wife  sit  beside  each  other, 
as  bound  to  each  other  not  only  in  this  life,  but  in  that 
beyond ;  and  on  countless  tomb  pictures  we  see  the  two 
sitting  on  a  couch,  the  husband  with  his  arm  round  his 
wife's  neck,  or  the  wife  with  hers  round  that  of  her 
husband.  No  boast  is  more  frequent  in  funeral  i  nscrip- 
tions  than  of  the  tenderness  each  felt  to  the  last  hour  for 
the  other,  and  wives  are  lamented  as  "  devoted  to  their 
husbands,"  as  "  loving  him,"  as  "  the  palm-tree  of  love  " 
to  overshadow  him.  Reigning  queens  are  mentioned 
from  the  earliest  times,  and  not  infrequently  attained 
great  fame  as  sovereigns ;  ranking,  like  the  Pharaohs, 
even  during  their  life,  as  divine  beings.  In  death,  more- 
over, women  were  more  honoured  than  men,  for  female 
mummies  are  as  a  rule  more  richly  embalmed,  adorned, 
and  entombed  than  those  of  the  other  sex. 

Marriage  was  thus  as  sacred  on  the  Nile  as  with  our- 
selves. Man  and  wife  ate  together  and  lived  together — 
not  in  separate  chambers  as  in  other  Eastern  nations — and 
a  divorce  was  difficult  to  obtain ;  while  infidelity  on  either 
side  was  one  of  the  mortal  sins  which  the  soul  had  to 
prove,  before  the  judges  of  the  dead,  that  it  had  not  com- 
mitted.    There  was  nothing,  therefore,  to  prevent  Joseph 

^  Diod.,  i.  27.     See  also  noie  on  thi^  subject,  Ebors'  Konigs- 
tochter,  vol.  i.  p.  234.  '  ^  MJbers,  p.  307. 


>   «■' 


^'l 


m 


m 


458 


JOSEPH. 


ffl        f\'l: 


II 


and  his  mistress  often  meeting  in  her  mansion,  and,  indeed, 
his  duties  may  have  required  him  to  do  so,  as  in  the  case 
of  a  wonderfully  beautiful  woman,  whom  a  papyrus  repre- 
sents as  going  to  the  temple  of  Ptah  to  pray,  attended  by 
fifty  maidens,  in  the  company  of  a  male  slave ;  doubtless, 
like  Joseph,  of  high  position.  Yet  concubines  and 
harems  were  not  unknown  in  Egypt,  for  the  Pharaohs, 
like  all  Eastern  despots,  indulged  in  this  immorality,  and 
had  a  "  house  of  the  women,"  over  which  eunuchs  were 
placed;  and  the  dignitaries  of  the  land  copied  the  example. 
But  these  mistresses  were  in  no  respect  on  a  footing  with 
the  lawiul  wife,  who  sits  beside  her  husband  while  the 
others  amuse  him  as  singers  and  dancers.^ 

That  with  all  the  honour  paid  to  marriage,  however, 
cases  of  painful  breach  of  its  duties  were  only  too  com- 
mon in  Egypt,  is  strangely  illustrated  by  the  "  Story  of 
the  Two  Brothers,"^  a  tale  some  centuries  older  than 
the  Exodus,  and  thus  perhaps  contemporary  with  Joseph 
himself.  It  is  almost  exactly  a  repetition  of  the  incident 
of  Potiphar's  wife,  except  that  the  victim  is  a  younger 
brother  of  the  husband,  and  suffers  even  more  than 
Joseph  ;  though  in  the  end  raised,  like  him,  for  his  vir- 
tues, to  the  highest  honours,  while  the  wife  is,  at  last, 
killed  and  thrown  to  the  dogs  by  the  god  Anubis. 
Egyptian  women,  as  a  whole,  had,  indeed,  only  too 
doubtful  a  name,  in  spite  of  the  virtues  of  many :  for 
ancient  testimony  weighs  very  heavily  to  their  pre- 
judice.^   Indeed,  the  very  liberty  enjoyed  by  the  sex, 

*  With  all  tlio  strictness  of  marriaj^e  law  in  Egypt,  it  is  strange 
to  notice  that  fashion  allowed  wives  to  expose  their  right  breast 
in  company,  and  to  dress  in  stuffs  which  were  well  nigh  trans- 
parent. 

^  Brugsch,  Au8  dem  Orient  (Berlin,  1864),  p.  7. 

■  Hitzig's  Geschichte,  p.  57.  .  y 


JOSEPH. 


459 


1,  indeed, 
L  the  case 
•us  repre- 
)ended  by 
doubtless, 
nnes   and 
Pharaohs, 
fality,  and 
uchs  were 
e  example, 
lotingwith 
while  the 

3,  however, 
y  too  com- 
3  "  Story  of 
older  than 
jsrith  Joseph 
ihe  incident 
,  a  younger 
more  than 
for  his  vir- 
3  is,  at  last, 
rod  Anubis. 
i,    only  too 
many:  for 
their  pre- 
by  the  sex, 

)t,  it  is  strange 
r  right  breast 
ell  nigh  trans- 


amidst  influences  so  corrupting  as  those  of  the  Egyptian 
religion,  and  the  strange  custom  of  dressing  in  fabrics 
so  transparent  as  to  show   the  whole   person   through 
them,  were  unfavourable  to  morality.     The  paintings  of 
the  tombs  show  the  delight  of  Egyptian  women  in  all 
the  elegancies  and  little  vanities  of  life.     We  can  see 
from   them  how  a  rich  matron  of  Thebes  or  Memphis 
spent  her  mornings.     Slaves  enter  her  chamber  bring- 
ing  delicate   embroidered   tunics,    of  brilliant   colours ; 
boxes  of  perfumes ;  caskets   filled  with   bracelets   and 
necklaces;   bronze    mirrors,   and   precious    little   cases. 
Reclining  on  a  couch  of  ebony  incrusted  with  ivory,  she 
lets  herself  be  dressed  and  adorned  by  her  maids.     One 
twists  her  black  hair  into  small  plaits,  adding  false  ones 
to  make  up  the  number  which  a  fashionable  head-dress 
demands ;  another  covers  her  arfns,  her  ancles,  and  her 
bosom  with  rings,  jewels,  and  amulets ;  she  tries  some 
finger-rings  of  gold  with  engraved  stones ;  chooses  the 
ear-rings  which  she  will  wear  for  the  day ;  and  while  one 
slave  opens  the  coUyrium  boxes  and  another  mixes  in  tho 
toilette  cups  the  different  ingredients  for  staining  tho 
nails,   the  eye-lashes,  and  the   eye-brows,   she   listens 
vaguely,  cooled  by  the  soft  air  of  fans,  and  wooed  by  the 
gentle  music  of  lutes,  harps,  and  flutes.^     No  wonder  that 
a  life  of  such  effeminacy  in  the  worst  sense,  should  lead 
to  scenes  of  offensive  excess  in  wine   at   table   among 
Egyptian  ladies,  or  to  others  too  gross  to  be  described, 
painted  on  the  walls  of  the  Temple  of  Medineh  Abu.^ 

The  prison  into  which  Joseph  was  thrown — "  a  place 
where  the  king's  prisoners  were  bound" — is  described 
in  the  Hebrew  Bible  by  a  word  which  Delitzsch  explains 
as  meaning  "the  fortress  surrounded  by  a  wall,"  and 

'  Sonry,  iJtudes  Historiques  sur  les  religions  de  VAsie  anterieure, 
p.  166.  *  Wilkinson,  vol.  i.  p.  52. 


I 


i'l- 


¥    1 

■   I 


n 

■, ;  'i 


}: 


■m 


■'ki-Vi 


ft 

'I 


460 


JOSE  PIT. 


Jl!  I ' 

mi 


^  i 


such  a  prison,  called  by  them  the  Wliite  Castle,  is 
mentioned  by  Thucydides^  and  Herodotus,^  as  existing  in 
Memphis,  and  is  found  under  the  same  name  on  many 
Egyptian  inscriptions.  Memphis  itself,  indeed,  was 
know  by  three  names  j  its  common  one,  Mennefer,  "the 
Haven  of  the  Good;*'  its  sacred  one,  "the  Dwelling  of 
Ptah,"  for  every  Egyptian  town  had  a  sacred  as  well 
as  a  profane  name ;  and  also  as  the  "  the  Town  of  the 
White  Castle.*  This  citadel  comprised  the  barracks  of 
the  garrison,  some  temples,  and  especially  the  prisons, 
and  was  under  an  officer  of  engineers,  known  as  the 
Superintendent-in-Chief  of  the  Walls  and  Fortifications 
of  Memphis.*  Nor  was  the  office  an  honorary  one,  for  the 
fortress  and  defences  were  so  strong  that  they  were  re- 
duced by  Cambyses,  more  than  a  thousand  years  later, 
only  after  a  regular  siege.  Potiphar,  as  Minister  oi 
Police,  was,  no  doubt,  the  head  of  the  citadel,  or  "  House 
of  the  prison,''  as  it  is  called  in  the  Hebrew  of  Genesis, 
the  words  used  being  common  in  the  inscriptions,  as 
including  the  whole  aggregate  of  buildings  in  any 
establishment.^  .  ' 

»  Thuc,  i.  104. 

«  Herod.,  iii.  13,  91.  Ebers'  JSgypten,  p.  311.  Stories  from 
Greek  legend,  parallel  to  that  of  Potiphar's  wife,  may  be  found 
in  Eosenmiiller's  A.  und  N.  Morgenlandt  vol.  i.  p.  185.  It  is  an 
aggravation  of  the  charge  against  Joseph  that  he,  a  Hebrew^,  one 
of  the  unclean  shepherd  race,  should  have  acted  so. 

•  The  word  Memphis  is  the  Coptic  name  for  the  city.  The 
Copts  are  the  modern  representatives  of  the  ancient  Egyptians. 
The  Arabic  name  is  Menf  or  Menuf.  These  are  only  corruptions 
of  Mennefer. 

•  Brngsch,  Gcograpliische  Tnschriften,  Taf.  42,  p'.  1095. 

•  Beth,  the  Hebicw  word  for  house,  which  has  this  wide  signifi 
cation,  is  very  common  in  the  inscriptions,  having  no  doqbt  been 
adopted   from   the   Semitic    races   of   Canaan,  with  whom   the 
Egyptians  were  frequently  at  war.    It  is  found  in  the  Egyptian 

\ 


JOSEPH. 


461 


astle,   is 
isting  in 
ou  many 
eed,   was 
f er,  ''  the 
?-elling  of 
d  as  well 
^a  of  the 
rracks   of 
3  prisons, 
^n   as   the 
ftifications 

me,  for  the 
y  were  re- 
ears  later, 
VLinister  oi 
or  "  House 
of  Genesis, 
riptions,  aa 
in    any 


a-S 

3 


Stories  from 
nay  be  found 
.85.  It  is  an 
Hebrew,  one 

le  city.  The 
it  Egyptians, 
y  corruptions 

095. 
wide  signifi 
HO  doubt  been 
th  whom   the 
the  Egyptian 


In  the  part  of  this  fortress  devoted  to  prisoners  ot 
state,  and,  as  such,  more  strictly  watched  than  any  other, 
Joseph  was  imprisoned ;  ordinary  criminals  having  their 
cells  in  other  parts  of  the  great  building.  Potiphar  had 
no  power  over  his  life,  for  the  old  law  of  Egypt  protected 
the  slave  thus  far,i  but  he  might  have  mutilated  him,  or 
have  inflicted  a  thousand  blows  of  the  stick  on  him  had  he 
chosen ;  the  fact  that  he  did  neither  showing  that,  while 
he   could  not  quite  disbelieve  his  wife's  story,   he  was 


Thb  Whitb  Castlb  at  Memphis,  in  which  Joseph  was   confined. 
Fauovs  Mosaic  Pateubnt  at  Fb^nestb. 


FliOM    THE 


still  so  prepossessed  in  Joseph's  favour  that  he  left  it  to 
time  to  show  how  the  truth  really  lay. 

But  even  the  suspicious  eyes  of  the  jailer  soon  saw  the 
innocence  of  the  prisoner,  and  hence  he  was  ere  long  as 
high  in  favour  with  him  as  he  had  been  with  Potiphar, 
a  result  which,  strangely  enough,  in  the  end  brought 
about  his  deliverance. 

lists  of  conquered  Canaanitish  cities,  before  the  entrance  of  the 
Hebrews  into  Egypt.    The  other  word,  Sohar,  is  an  Egyptian  one. 
*  Soury,  p.  165. 


1     1 


i^-     I 


^i     I 


?  .1    i 


Ijl 


402 


JOSEPH. 


The  kinpf's  cupbearer,  and  the  chief  of  his  bakers,* 
who  had  fallen  into  disgrace  and  were  confined  in  the 
same  building  as  Joseph,  are  shown  by  the  Egyptian 
records  to  have  been  very  high  officials ;  for  both  had  the 
responsible  duty  of  protecting  the  king's  life  from  poison. 
The  post  of  the  former,  in  particular,  gave  him  constant 
and  confidential  access  to  the  Pharaoh,  who  drank  only 
what  he  received  from  his  hand ;  while  the  other  had  not 
only  to  oversee  the  due  supply  of  the  court  with  the 
endless  cakes  and  bakemeats  in  which  Egyptians  de- 
lighted, but  to  take  care  that  they  were  not  tampered 
with  for  traitorous  ends. 

Numerous  inscriptions  show  the  great  importance 
attached  by  the  Egyptians  to  dreams.  In  one,  the  Prince 
of  Bachtan  is  recorded  as  having  sent  back  to  Egypt, 
in  consequence  of  a  dream,  the  god  Chunsu,  which  the 
Pharaoh  had  sent  him  to  cure  his  daughter.^  Another 
states  how  King  Menephtah  had  a  dream  before  a  battle, 
in  which  the  god  Ptah  placed  himself  before  him,  and 
forbade  him  to  advance.^  An  inscription  discovered  in 
the  ruins  of  Napata,  relates  how  the  Pharaoh  Miamun,  in 
the  year  of  his  elevation  to  the  throne  of  Egypt  and 
Ethiopia,  dreamed  that  he  saw  two  serpents ;  one  on  his 
right  hand  and  the  other  on  his  left.  Awaking,  he 
demanded  that  his  wise  men  should  come  and  interpret 
it  on  the  moment,  and  this  they  did  as  follows :  "  You 
possess  the  south,  and  the  north  will  submit  to  you. 
The  diadems  of  the  two  will  shine  on  your  head,  and 
you  will  rule  over  all  the  land  in   its    length   and   in 

*  Both  Potiphar  and  these  two  high  officials  are  called  eunuchs 
it  the  Hebrew,  but  this  may  have  been  merely  a  name  of  ofilce. 

^  Stele  of  Rameses  11.  in  the  Biblioth^que  Rationale  of  Paris. 

'  Chabas,  EtudeSf  p.  214.  Diimichen,  Hiatorische  InsGhriften, 
Taf.3. 


lOSRPH. 


4G3 


"I 


its  breaclth." '  Dreams  were  regarded  as  sont  by  tlie 
god  Thoth,  and  it  was  so  great  a  matter  to  obtain  them 
that  recipes  are  still  extant  telling  how  they  may  be 
secured.  It  was  natural,  therefore,  that  the  two  dis- 
graced officials  should  be  greatly  excited  to  find  out  the 
meaning  of  the  supposed  Divine  communications  that 
had  been  sent  them.  Out  off  as  they  were  by  the  prison 
walls  from  the  priests  who  alone  interpreted  dreams,  tliey 
would  doubtless  be  only  too  glad  to  avail  themselves  of 
such  irregular  help  as  the  presence  of  Joseph  promised 
to  afford. 

Nothing  could  be  more  perfectly  Egyptian  than  the 
cupbearer  seeing  in  his  sleep  a  vine  with  three 
branches,  which  presently  blossomed,  and  then  hung 
thick  with  ripened  clusters;  grapes  from  which  he 
pressed  into  Pharaoh's  cup.  Even  in  the  Old  Empire, 
before  the  Hyksos  or  Shepherd  Kings,  both  the  vine,  and 
its  juice  used  as  a  beverage,  were  familiar  in  the  valley 
of  the  Nile.  The  tombs  at  the  pyramids,  which  are 
much  older  than  the  time  of  Joseph,  show  not  only  richly 
laden  vines  in  process  of  being  picked  into  baskets,^  but 
also  the  preparation  of  the  grape  juice,  from  its  being 
pressed  out  of  the  clusters  to  the  storing  it  in  jars.  At 
Beni  Hassan,  the  tomb  walls,  which  date  from  the  Old 
Empire,  show  a  very  curious  wine-press — a  kind  of  sack 
fixed  between  upright  posts  and  filled  with  grapes,  which 
give  off  their  juice  into  a  vessel  below  on  the  sack  being 
twisted  round  at  one  end,  as  women  wring  clothes  in 
washing.*  In  the  tombs  at  Thebes  we  have  a  picture  of 
a  great  garden  with  a  vineyard  in  the  middle,  in  which  a 

»  Soury,  Etudes  sur  lea  Beligiona,  p.  170.     Lenormant,  La 
J)ivination,  p.  144. 
8  Wilkinson,  vol.  i.  p.  41. 
*  TTiifcmsow,  vol.  i.  p.  45. 


fc. 


'■1 


f 


\l  t 


I 


^ 


i 


464 


JOSEPH. 


iil 


I 


*i 


boy  scares  off  the  birds  from  the  ripe  p^rapes,  while  men, 
singing  as  they  work,  tread  out  with  their  naked  feet  the 
clusters  heaped  into  a  huge  vat.  Overhead  is  a  roof  with 
hanging  ropes,  to  which  the  men  cling  as  they  spring  up 
and  down  on  the  yielding  mass,  the  juice  meanwhile 
flowing  through  two  openings  into  jars  on  the  ground. 
The  master  stands  by  while  these  are  counted,  entered  iu 
a  book,  and  placed  closely  side  by  side  in  his  cellar;^  under 
the  care  of  an  image  of  the  asp,  or  good  demon,  the  pro- 
tecting deity  of  the  storeroom.  That  this  juice,  more- 
over, was  used  after  fermentation  as  well  as  before,  is 
only  too  clearly  shown  by  the  pictures  of  the  feasts 
already  mentioned,  for  even  women  are  seen  iu  them, 
with  the  doubled  up  lotos  flower,  the  sign  of  drunken- 
ness, hanging  over  their  arm,  or  led  out,  offensively  sick, 
by  a  female  slave.^  Nor  are  the  men  more  temperate, 
for  one  is  being  carried  away  resting  on  the  heads  of  three 
slaves,  while  another  is  being  taken  home  most  uncom- 
fortably,— his  head  resting  on  the  chest  of  one  slave,  his 
heels  on  the  shoulders  of  another.*  Workmen  had  rations 
of  bread  and  wine  allowed  them,  and  there  was  a  fixed 
allowance  of  two  kinds  for  the  priests.  At  the  town  of 
Bubastis,  moreover,  on  the  edge  of  Goshen,  a  yearly 
carnival  at  the  great  sanctuary  of  Pacht  or  Sechet 
attracted  often  seven  hundred  thousand  people,  who 
drank  more  while  it  lasted  than  they  did  all  the  year 
besides.*  Another  similar  festivity  was  held  yearly  at 
the  temple  of  Hathor,  the  goddess  of  love,  at  Dendera., 

*  Wilkinson,  vol.  i.  pp.  46,  47.  '  Ibid.,  p.  62. 

•  Ibid.,  p.  53.  Tristram's  Nat.  Hist,  of  Bible,  p.  403.  Michaelis, 
Mos.  Eecht,  vol.  iv.  p.  70. 

<  Herodotus,  ii.  37,  60,  122,  168,  133.  EbeTs'  Durch  Gosen- 
pp.  18,  182,  480.  Konigstocliter,  vol.  i.  p.  228,  n.  132;  vol.  ii; 
p.  261,  n.  73. 


JOSEPH. 


465 


bile  men, 
d  feet  the 
roof  with 
spring  up 
neanwhile 
3  ground, 
entered  in 
jt;^  under 
I,  the  pro- 
ice,  more- 

before,  is 
the  feasts 
1  in  them, 

drunken- 
jively  sick, 
temperate, 
ds  of  three 
58t  uncom- 
e  slave,  hia 
had  rations 
^as  a  fixed 
le  town  of 
a  yearly 

or    Sechet 
eople,   who 

1  the  year 

yearly  at 

bt  Dendera, 

.52. 

5.    Michaelis, 

Vurch  Gosen, 
132;  vol.  ii: 


which  bore  the  significant  natnoof  the  drinking  feast;  the 
goddess  her^5elf  bearing  among  other  niimes  tliat  of  "tlio 
goddess  of  drunkenness/'  or  even  *' the  drunken. "^ 
'*  The  people  of  Denderah  are  drunk  witli  witie,"  says 
an  inscription,  speaking  of  this  feast. '^  Still  more, 
Barneses  III.,  in  his  record  of  his  gifts  to  the  gods,  re- 
minds those  of  Thebes  that  ho  gave  them  numberless 
vineyards,  and  many  gardeners,  from  the  captives  of  all 
lands,  to  cultivate  them ;  and  this  ho  repeated  to  those 
of  other  parts.  Nor  did  it  hinder  his  adding  gifts  of 
nearly  200,000  jars  of  wine  to  the  various  temples. 

Where  wine  and  its  use  were  divinely  sanctioned,  no 
class  could  well  be  prohibited  from  it.  Drunkenness, 
indeed,  was  denounced  as  strongly  as  among  ourselves. 
A  drunkard  was  called  "  a  temple  without  a  god,''  or 
"a  house  without  bread,"  and  men  were  earnestly 
warned  to  shun  indulgence.  Yet  too  many  drank  till 
"  they  knew  nothing,  and  could  not  even  speak."  ^  The 
kings,  however,  whose  whole  life  was  regulated  by  the 
priests,  had  their  allowance  of  wine  and  the  kinds  per- 
mitted them  fixed  by  these  spiritual  guides;*  but  a 
despot  is  not  easily  kept  within  bounds,  however  it  may 
have  been  with  the  particular  Pharaoh  whose  beverage  in 
the  cupbearer's  dream,  was  only  grape  juice  fresh  from 
the  cluster.^  But  that  this  is  a  literally  correct  trait  of 
Egyptian  life  has  been  curiously  illustrated  by  a  text  dis- 
covered by  Ebers  in  the  inscriptions  of  the  Temple  of 
Edfu,  in  which  the  king  is  seen  standing,  cup  in  hand, 

*  Ebers'  ^(jypten,  p.  326.    Records  of  Fast,  vol.  vi.  pp.  23-70. 

*  Dumicheu's  Bau-urkunde,  p.  29. 

*  Papyrus,  quoted  by  Ebers,  p.  326.  ' ' 

*  Kdnigstochter,  vol.  i.  n.  39. 

*  The  drinking  cups  of  the  rich  Egyptians  were  often  very  costly, 
They  were  made  of  gold,  alabaster,  fine-glazed  clay,  or  glass,  and 
were  often  of  the  most  elegant  shapes. 

VOL.    I.  H   H 


I  It' 


T*'    A. 


'■91 


466 


JOSEPH. 


1 

1 

1 

A 

1   ;| 

^1  ' 

■ 

Ll^ 

if 

3 

.9 


5 '?!  "  i! 

o  r/i  -  g  I  § 


;is 


61   .  a  «  ^  "0 
i  ^  ^  s'  S 

c  >  c  a  "^  _^ 

<u  a  *^  2  «  » 
a  o  t-  a  •-« 

ius  - 
fi  i  "s-  >-. ;  i 

g-o  s  a  o 

>W  I  'C  «  5  « 


g  a 

^  <  «  c  a 
"d  a  ^  0)  "  a> 


Iss 


while   underneath  are  tlio  words,   "Thoy  press   grapes 
into  the  water,  and  the  king  drinks/'  ^ 

The  dream  of  the  chief  r/i 
bukor  is  no  less  true  to 
Egyptian  life,  even  in  its 
details.  The  **  baskets 
of  white  bread/'  *  find 
their  justification  alike  in 
the  pictures  and  inscrip- 
tions and  in  the  remains 
found  in  the  tombs.  The 
temples  received  tributes 
of  wheat  from  the  earliest 
times^  and  the  kings  at 
their  coronation  cut  otF 
some  ears  of  standing 
grain,  and  presented 
them  to  the  gods,  as  the 
chief  product  of  the  land. 
Mummy  wheat  is  also 
found  constantly  in  the 
oldest  tombs, and, strange 
to  say,  it  has  been 
found  in  the  lake  dwell- 
ings of  Switzerland, 
which  it  could  hardly  have 
reached  except  through 
Phenician      traders      at 


opq 


:  g  aa 

O    2    "3 


?    .S  5  te    "  K  b 

■^  »3  a  33  a 

00  c8  «  <«  o  q 

■*j  03  Ct-t    is  O  rt     - 

PH  ^    ,  —  ^    -• 

■a  £  o  iS  »^  fe  *< 

O  *'  *i     ht  „  X      r„ 


g  ®  a  SI 


i«  ^ 

.9  12  5  >  I  ^  I 
?a  o  -J  M  ^  3 

«  a  7^  a  *  o  s 
a 


.,  aj  9}  a 

a    <"    00  ^  ,M  t^    OB 

9  CO  <i>  g  ri  O  a 

ga  a^-Q-o  2 

„  *^  '5  a  ta  o  " 

s  °  a  ■"■«<"  ^ 

«  S  o  *  ^  •:5 

^    a    00   «  C8  »rt 

•O  «  a,  83  .£  ij  fl 


O    C3 


5  2 


*  Burch  Oosen,  p  480.  Na- 
ville,  Textes  relatifs  au  mythe 
d'llorus,  p].  21,23. 

*  Proper  translation.    Jo- 
seph plays  on  the  words  "  lift  up."    The  head  of  the  baker  waa 
"  lifted  up  "  in  a  very  diflferont  sense  from  that  of  the  "  butler." 


S3   gmpo» 


»j  *i  -t| 


;;    ®    3    O    to 

>  Ji  g  "^  I 


O 


^^^;|S 


^  a-- 


S  •«  1  •§  ^ 

O  OS  "   bt  s  « 

^  -S  -S  "2  •« 

i      •»-l      fl>     O     *3 


> 


«   B  73    « 
•^  c8  «  C 

-3    3" 
01   X    «    g 

^  S  rt  S 

•S  3  is  S  o  2  g 

-  |5  bc-a  g-J 

^^.o  a°5  8 

II s  .S 3  I 

5  ♦^  -ti  >!•  —  «J 


^  -5  »-  f*  « *«  -a 


4(3 


fe  5  "w  .S  2 

.    ffl     Q    to  'O    0)     _, 

^  ^   S  (u  01  ^  9 


f   to 

So 

e 

S  E-i  P  'S  -^ 


03    fi  ^    ffl 


s 


£  the  baker  was 
the  *'  batler." 


J08BPU. 


107 


^^arsc^lle9.  ^  Inclecd,  hugo  wbeatfiolds  aro  soon  in  tho 
pictures  of  tho  Egyptian  lioavon. 

Even  so  trilliui'  a  detail  as  tho  bakomoats  bcinij  said 
to  have  boon  carried  on  tho  head,  is  no  U'ss  true  to 
Egyptian  life,  for  while  tho  monmnents  show  tliat  men 
carried  their  burdens  less  often  on  tltcir  heads  than  otlier- 
wise,  bakers  are  a  marked  exception.  A  papyrus  of  tho 
ago  when  the  Hebrews  were  in  Egypt,  names  four  ot  the 
Pharaoh's  bakers,  of  whom  one  is  always  called  *'  tho 
chief,"  and  tho  importance  of  his  office  may  bo  judged 
from  tho  fact  that  no  fewer  than  114,0l34  loaves  are  said 
to  have  been  delivered  by  him  at  a  particular  time  to  the 
royal  storerooms.^  Strange  to  say,  we  have  also  a  notice 
of  the  bread  made  in  the  citadel  where  Joseph  was  con- 
fined,  for  one  text  speaks  of  "  the  bread  baked  in  the 
White  Castle '' at  Memphis. 

The  doom  of  the  baker,  to  be  beheaded  and  then  have 
his  body  stuck  upon  a  pole  and  left  to  be  eaten  by  the 
birds,  was  the  hardest  that  could  be  inflicted  on  an 
Egyptian ;  and  shows  special  guilt,  real  or  alleged,  on  the 
part  of  the  unfortunate  victim.  To  let  the  body  be 
destroyed  was  fatal  to  all  hopes  of  a  happy  eternity,  for 
its  preservation  was  essential  to  a  continued  exist(3nce 
after  death.  Beheading,  preceded  by  beating  with  sticks, 
was  a  common  punishment ;  but  refusal  of  embalmment 
was  only  pronounced  against  extraordinary  offenders.^ 
To  leave  the  body  to  be  eaten  by  the  dogs  was  the  most 
terrible  item  in  the  punishment  of  the  treacherous  wife  in 
tho  Tale  of  the  Two  Brothers. 

The  birthday  of  Pharaoh,  on  which  the  cup-bearer  and 
the  chief  baker  had  their  very  different  gaol  discharge, 

*  Desor,  Pfahlbauten  des  Neuenhurgcr  Sees,  p.  43. 

*  Pleyte,  Le  papurus  Bollin  (Paris,  1868). 

*  JDillinann,  p.  4:2^.    Ebera*  JEjypten,  i).  3^4. 


•I 


I  > 


468 


JOSEPH. 


y^as  a  great  festivity  on  the  Nile,  for  even  to  the  common 
people  the  hour  of  birth,  on  which  astrologers  were 
always  consulted  where  means  allowed,  was  a  time  of 
supreme  interest.  Birthdays  generally,  were,  among  all 
classes  in  antiquity,  kept  with  great  rejoicing,  especially 
those  of  kings.  That  of  the  king  of  Persia  was  known  as 
the  "  perfect  day,'*  and  an  inscription  of  the  time  of  the 
Exodus,  tells  us  of  Rameses  II.,  that  his  birthday  caused 
joy  in  heaven.^  The  piiests  of  every  class  assembled  in 
the  temples,  an  amnesty  was  granted  to  prisoners,  and  a 
great  feast  was  held,  worthy  of  a  monarch  who  was  wor- 
shipped as  a  god  by  his  subjects.  Under  colour  of  re- 
calling the  glories  of  the  past  year,  the  priesthood  took 
the  opportunity  of  renewing  their  hold  on  him  by  flatter- 
ing but  significant  addresses ;  after  which,  surrounded  by 
all  his  court  and  the  dignitaries  of  the  temples,  he  dis- 
pensed his  grace  or  frowns  as  he  thought  fit. 

The  two  dreams  of  Pharaoh  are  full  of  interest.  The 
Nile,  as  elsewhere,  is  called  only  "  the  river,"  ^  needing 
no  other  name  in  an  Egyptian  incident ;  just  as  the 
Euphrates  is  similarly  honoured  when  the  scene  is  in  its 
neighbourhood.^  In  the  first  dream,  seven  "well  favoured 
and  fat  fleshed"  buffaloes — the  Egyptian  sacred  number — 
which  had  been  wallowing  in  the  shallow  water  of  the 
river's  edge,  come  to  the  *'lip"  of  the  stream,  to  feed  on  the 
succulent  reeds  and  sedge  of  the  marshy  brink,  in  which 
cattle  still  delight;  but  only  to  be  eaten  up  by  seven  others, 
"  ill  favoured  and  lean  fleshed,"  which  presently  come  up, 
after  them,  out  of  the  river.    The  wheat  of  the  second 


^  Eber's  Konigstochter,  vol.  i.  p.  22,  n.  40 ;  vol.  ii.  p.  267.  Chabas, 
Inscriptions  des  Mines  d'Or,  p.  3.     Dillmann,  p.  424 
2  The  Egyptian  word  meaning  this  is  used. 
*  See  list  of  texts  in  Stanley's  Sinai  and  Palestine,  Appendix, 


p.  34. 


'»!. 


\ 


JOSEPH. 


469 


257.  Chabas, 


dream,  with  seven  ears  on  the  one  stalk,  is  the  many  eared 
variety,  or  mummy  wheat,  stiil  grown  in  the  Delta,  and 
the  east  wind  which  blasted  the  second  stalk  and  its  ears, 
is  the  Khamsin,  or  burning  south-east  wind,  which  too 
often  even  at  this  day  shrivels  the  growing  corn,  leaving 
it  withered  and  empty.  That  it  is  said  to  blow  from  the 
east  instead  of  the  south-east  is  natural,  for  the  Hebrews 
spoke  only  of  "the  four  winds  of  the  earth," ^  arid  hence 
reckoned  south-east  as  east,  as  the  Greeks  classed  the 
east  wind  under  the  name  of  the  southern,  and  the 
west  under  that  of  the  north. 

That  the  number  of  the  cows  should  have  been  seven 
is  a  singular  touch  of  true  local  colouring,  recognised  only 
within  a  few  years,  but  affording  a  striking  proof  of  the 
exactness  of  the  whole  incident  in  its  illustration  of 
Egyptian  modes  of  thoughb  and  life.  Isis  is  often  seen 
associated  with  seven  cows;  a  mystical  number  represented 
by  the  same  word  in  Egyptian,  Hebrew,  and  Sanscrit.^  So, 
also,  Osiris  is  at  times  represented  as  attended  by  seven 
cows,  his  wives.*  At  the  summer  solstice  a  cow  was  led 
seven  times  round  his  temple.  That  those  in  the  dream 
should  have  been  bathing  in  the  Nile  is,  moreover,  only  a 
reproduction  of  paintings  often  seen  on  the  monuments.* 

Want  and  abundance  depend  absolutely  in  Egypt,  to- 
day, as  of  old,  on  the  rise  of  the  Nile.  The  culture  of  the 
land  must  ever  go  hand  in  hand  with  the  irrigation  of  the 
soil  by  the  periodical  flood,  which  takes  the  place  at  once 
of  rain  and  of  manure.  The  yearly  rise  of  the  stream 
hadj  indeed,  long  before  Joseph's  day,  been  the  direct 
source  of  Egyptian  civilization ;  for  the  necessity  of  an 

*  Rev.  vii.  1. 

*  Egyptian  Sefeh,  Hebrew  8eha,  Sanscrit  Sapi. 

»  De  Rongd,  lievue  Archoeologique  (Feb.,  1869),  p.  94. 
'        *  Wilkinson,  vol.  i.  p.  102. 


i^" 


^1 


ii* 


% 


I 

H 


7    fit 


V 


470 


JOSEPH. 


extended  system  of  canals,  and  of  a  supervision  of  tlie 
boundary  marks  of  individual  properties,  often  effaced  by 
the  inundations,  first  enforced  attention  to  astronomy  as  the 
only  guarantee  of  correct  measurement  of  time  ;  and  also 
to  architecture  and  geometry,  by  the  help  of  which  strong 
dams  could  be  built  and  a  network  of  canals  led  off  from 
the  central  stream.  And  it  is  a  striking  fact  that  the  only 
part  of  the  Egyptian  religion  received  through  the  whole 
country,  and  not  in  some  localities  only — the  worship  of 
Isis  and  Osiris,  with  the  gods  and  myths  related  to  them — 
was  closely  connected  with  the  phenomena  of  the  Nile.  In 
its  rise  it  was  called  Osiris — the  Fructifier  of  the  Land — 
and  was  typified  by  the  male  ox ;  ^  while  in  its  overflow  it 
bore  the  name  of  his  wife  and  sister,  Isis — the  Fruitful 
Mother,  or  of  Hath  or, — the  goddess  of  fruitfulness,  both 
of  whom  were  worshipped  under  the  symbol  of  the  cow, 
or  with  the  head  of  a  cow,  as  is  constantly  seen  on  the 
monuments.  "  Among  the  stars,"  says  Plutarch,  "  Sirius 
is  consecrated  to  Isis,  because  it  brings  moisture.  As 
the  Nile,  according  to  the  Egyptians,  is  an  emanation  of 
Osiris,  they  believe  also  tHat  their  land  is  the  body  of  Isis ; 
that  is,  the  part  of  it  enriched  by  the  river  when  it  over- 
flows. From  this  union  Horus  is  born,  and  this  Horus  is 
the  season  or  the  temperature  of  the  air  which  quickens 
and  nourishes  all  things."^  When,  therefore,  the  kine 
rose  out  of  the  bed  of  the  Nile,  it  was  apparently  almost 
inevitable  to  recognise  in  them  the  symbol  of  Isis-Hathor 
—that  is,  of  the  fertility  of  the  land. 

It  is,  indeed,  striking  to  notice  how  thoroughly  the 
Egyptian  world  realized  its  dependence  on  its  great  river. 
Fixed  standards  to  note  its  periodical  rise  had  in  the 
earliest  ages  been  set  up  in  its  course,  from  Nubia  to  the 
Delta ;  and  from  these  the  people  were  wont,  each  summer, 
*  Dillmann,  p.  426.  '  Isis  et  Osiris. 


JOSEPH. 


471 


to  read  their  future.     From  December  to  the  eud  of  Juno 
no  noticeable  change  took  place  in  the  stream,  and  the 
images  of  Isis-Hathor  were  draped  in  black,  as  mourning 
for  the  dryness  of  the  soil.     But  for  the   seven  months 
from  July  to  December  their  images,  in  gala  robes,  were 
carried  round,  each  month,  in  solemn  procession,  and  all 
was  rejoicing.     At  Memphis,  Joseph's  town,  as  elsewhere, 
the  one  great  topic  of  each  summer  and  autumn  must  have 
been  the  daily  reports  of  the  Nilometer  of  the  city,  which 
seems   to   have   been  especially  noted ;  the  estimates  of 
the  height  of  inundations  which  ha'e  come  down  to  us 
from  antiquity  seeming  to  have  been  taken  from  it.    In  the 
time  of  Herodotus,  some  1,300  years  after  Joseph,  26  feet 
of  flood,  only,  were  needed  to  secure  a  plentiful  harvest ; 
but  the  rise  of  the  land,  through  the  deposit  of  Nile  mud, 
now  requires  that  the  waters  reach  a  height  of  39  feet  to 
cause  an  adequate  inundation  ;^  a  result  effected  by  dams 
and  barrage. 

The  second  dream  is  only  the  complement  of  the  first, 
and  must  have  been  full  of  meaning  to  a  land  like  Egypt, 
which  grew  the  heaviest  wheat  in  the  world,  and  yet 
often  had  fields  of  empty  ears  when  the  khamsin  had 
been  blowing ;  a  land  which  believed  that  in  Blysium, 
the  blessed  did  not  pass  their  existence  in  enervating  rest, 
but  rejoiced  in  richly  watered  cornfields  which  they  them- 
selves sowed  and  reaped  j  where  the  kings  bore  ears  of 
wheat  in  their  hands  at  high  festivals  ;  where  crowns  of 
wheat-. irs  were  put  on  deified  princesses;  and  wheie 
the  harvest  goddess  could  be  spoken  of  as  she  who  filled 
the  garners  with  grain.^ 


^    I 


*  Brockhaus'  Lexicon,  art.  Nil.  Ebers  {^gypten,  p.  355)  says, 
that  from  22  to  26  feet  was  the  rise  required  in  antiquity. 

'  Ebers'  j^gypten,  p.  360.  Eine  jSJjgiiptische  Konigstochter,  vol. 
i.  p.  198.    The  Nile  begins  to  rise  at  Memphis  at  the  end  of  June, 


If 


472 


JOSEPH. 


I<! 


The  alarm  of  the  Pharaoh  at  such  dreams,  followed  by  his 
summoning  "  all  the  magicians  and  wise  men  of  Egypt/' 
is  true  alike  to  the  importance  attached  to  dreams  by 
the  Egyptians,  and  to  the  arrangements  of  the  court  at 
Memphis.  A  council  of  priests  of  various  orders  were 
in  constant  attendance  upon  the  king,  to  guide  every 
act  of  his  daily  life,  and  to  interpret  the  will  of  the  gods ; 
as  shown  in  omens,  visions,  or  signs  of  the  heavens. 
Every  large  temple  had  its  college  of  priests,  over  whom 
one  presided  as  chief;  and  each  class  of  the  priesthood 
in  these  colleges  had,  under  this  head  dignitary,  a  presi- 
dent of  its  own.  From  among  the  high  priests,  more- 
over, the  foremost  men  were  chosen  as  a  hierarchy  for 
all  Egypt,  and  of  these  a  selected  number,  the  most 
eminent  in  dignity,  lived  in  the  royal  palace  to  attend  on 
the  king ;  one,  selected  from  them,  acting  apparently  as . 
sovereign  pontiff  of  all  Egypt. 

When,  however,  weighty  questions,  such  as  that  of 
these  dreams,  had  to  be  solved,  this  standing  council  of 
high  ecclesiastics,  which  seems  to  have  been  twenty  in 
number,  was  augmented  by  the  heads  of  the  great  temples 
throughout  the  country,  and  the  united  body  were  invited 
to  aid  the  king  in  his  perplexity.  There  were  many 
classes  of  priests,  but  only  two  are  named  in  Genesis  ^  on 
this  occasion — the    Hachamim,   or   wise  men:   and  the 


and  continues  rising  for  three  months.  At  the  end  of  September 
it  commences  to  retire,  and  the  land  dries  daring  October,  which 
is  the  month  for  sowing.  The  harvest  begins  with  the  opening 
of  March,  and  the  river  keeps  shrinking  till  the  end  of  June, 
when  it  again  rises.  Brockhaus'  Lexicon,  vol.  i.  ^gypten,  p.  356. 
Brugsch,  however,  says  that  the  Nile  begins  to  cover  Lower 
Egypt  with  its  waters  in  the  two  months  of  January  and  February. 
Oriental  Congress  (1874),  p.  245. 
*  The  words  used  in  the  Hebrew  are  the  exact  Egyptian  terms 


JOSEPH. 


473 


Hartummim,*  a  title  not  yet  very  clear;  but  these  are 
doubtless  named  as  including  the  council  as  a  whole. 
They  did  not  affect  to  speak  by  direct  inspiration  in  giving 
their  interpretations,  but  confined  themselves  to  consult- 
ing the  holy  books,  and  to  performing  magical  rites  , 
and  deep,  no  doubt,  would  be  the  study  of  the  one,  and 
abundant  the  performance  of  the  other,  at  such  a  crisis. 
That  Joseph,  after  their  failure,  should  have  at  once  given 
so  just  a  solution,  without  having  any  holy  books,  but 
in  the  far  higher  way  of  direct  inspiration,  explains  the 
reverence  in  which  he  was  forthwith  held. 

The  recurrence  of  years  of  famine  in  Egypt,  from  a 
failure  in  the  rise  of  the  Nile,  receives  vivid  corroboration 
from  the  monuments  and  inscriptions.  Thus,  in  the  tombs 
of  Beni  Hassan,  Ameni,  a  high  civil  and  military  officer  of 
King  Usurtasen  I.  of  the  twelfth  dynasty,  under  which 
it  is  generally  thought  Abraham  visited  Egypt,  records 
of  himself  in  posthumous  praise,  on  the  walls  of  his  burial 
chamber  :  "  For  years  I  exercised  my  power  as  governor 
in  the  nome  of  Mah.  All  the  works  for  the  palace  of  the 
king  were  placed  in  my  hands.  The  chiefs  of  the  temples 
of  the  gods  of  the  nome  of  Mah  gave  me  thousands  of 
hulls  (so)  with  their  calves.  I  was  praised  on  the  part 
of  the  royal  palace  because  of  the  yearly  delivery  of  cows 
in  milk.  I  gave  up  all  their  products  to  the  palace,  and 
I  kept  back  nothing  for  myself  The  whole  nome  of 
Mah  worked  for  me  with  multiplied  activity.  But  I 
never  afflicted  the  child  of  the  poor.  I  have  not  ill-treated 
the  widow.  I  never  disturbed  any  owner  of  land.  I 
never  drove  away  the  herdsmen.  I  never  took  away  his 
men  for  my  works  from  the  master  who  had  only  five. 
There  were  none  wretched  in  my  time.  The  hungry  did 
not  exist  in  my  time,  even  when  there  v)ere  years  of  famine. 

»  Qes.  Thee,,  col.  i.  p.  1194. 


m 


y'< 


Mid 


474 


JOSEPH. 


For,  behold,  I  had  all  the  fields  of  the  district  of  Mah 
ploughed,  up  to  its  frontiers,  both  south  and  north. 
Thus  I  found  bread  for  the  inhabitants,  and  gave  them 
the  food  which  they  produced.  There  were  no  hungry 
people  in  it.  I  gave  equally  to  the  widow  and  the 
married  woman.  I  did  not  prefer  a  great  personage  to 
a  humble  man  in  all  that  I  gave  away ;  and  when  the 
inundations  of  the  Nile  were  great,  he  who  sowed  was 
master  of  his  crop.  I  kept  back  nothing  for  myself  from 
the  revenues  of  the  field.''  ^ 

"  Years  of  famine  "  had  thus  scourged  the  land  gene- 
rations before  those  of  the  Pharaoh's  dreams ;  but  an  old 
inscription,  whose  author  must,  in  the  opinion  of  Brugsch, 
have  been  a  contemporary  of  Joseph,  brings  before  us, 
it  may  be,  the  very  calamity  to  which  the  young  Hebrew 
owed  liis  wonderful  change  of  fortune.  One  of  the  tombs 
at  El  Kuh  has  revealed  this  strange  relic  of  the  remote 
past,  which  is  interesting  on  more  grounds  than  one.  On 
the  wall  opposite  the  entrance  to  the  tomb,  the  dead 
man's  story  proceeds : — "  The  chief  at  the  taV  )  of  princes, 
Baba,  the  risen-again,  speaks  thus :  I  loved  my  father, 
I  honoured  my  mother;  my  brothers  and  my  sisters 
loved  me.  I  stepped  out  of  the  door  of  my  house  with 
a  benevolent  heart.  I  stood  there  with  refreshing  hand, 
and  splendid  were  the  preparations  I  collected  for  the 
feast-day.  Mild  was  my  heart,  free  from  noisy  anger. 
The  gods  bestowed  on  me  a  rich  portion  on  earth.  The 
city  wished  me  health,  and  a  life  full  of  freshness,  I 
punished  the  evil  doers.  The  children  who  stood  opposite 
me  in  the  town,^  during  the  days  I  lived,  were,  small  as 
well  as  great,  sixty ;  there  were  prepared  for  them  as  many 
beds^  as  many  chairs,  as  many  tables.     They  consumed 

*  Brugsch's  History  of  Egypt,  vol.  i.  p.  137. 
*  ■  His  own  family. 


JOSEPH. 


475 


t  of  Mah 
id  north, 
ave  them 
o  hungry 
and   the 

sonage  to 
when  the 

jowed  wa3 
^self  from 

and  gene- 

but  an  old 
f  Brugsch, 

before  us, 
ig  Hebrew 

the  tombs 
the  remote 
\,n  one.  On 
,  the  dead 

of  princes, 
my  father, 
my  sisters 
louse  with 
hing  hand, 
:ed  for  the 
isy  anger, 
arth.  The 
shness,  I 
)d  opposite 
e,  small  as 
Jm  as  many 

consumed 


120  epha  of  doura,^  the  milk  of  3  cows,  52  goats  and  9 
she  asses  ;  a  hin  of  balsam,  and  2  jars  of  oil. 

"My  speech  may  appear  untrue  to  some,  but  I  call  to 
witness  the  god  Month  that  it  is  true.  I  had  all  this 
prepared  in  my  house.  In  addition,  I  gave  cream  in  the 
pantry  and  beer  in  the  cellar  in  a  more  than  sufficient 
number  of  hin  measures. 

"I  collected  the  harvest,  for  I  was  a  friend  of  the 
harvest  god.  I  was  watchful  at  the  time  of  sowing,  and 
now  when  a  famine  arose,  lasting  muny  yearSj  I  issued 
corn  to  the  citij  to  each  hungry  'person,"  ^       -   , 

Such  famines,  extending  through  a  number  of  consecu- 
tive seasons,  owing  to  the  deficiency  of  water  in  the  Nile, 
were  very  rare  j  indeed,  history  knows  only  the  instance 
related  in  Genesis ;  and  hence,  as  he  whose  story  has 
been  quoted  was  a  contemporary  of  Joseph,  we  seem  to 
have  here  an  independent  notice  of  the  very  dearth  con- 
nected with  his  narrative. 

The  hasty  summons  of  Joseph  from  the  prison,  at  the 
suggestion  of  the  cup-bearer,  to  interpret  the  Pharaoh's 
dreams,  is  no  less  true  to  Egyptian  customs  than  the 
rest  of  the  narrative.  Notwithstanding  the  urgency,  ho 
had  to  "  shave  himself,"  and  change  his  garments,  before 
he  could  "  come  in  unto  Pharaoh;"  a  necessity  explained 
by  the  fact  that  no  one  could  appear  before  the  majesty 
of  Egypt  unless  he  were,  in  all  respects,  ceremonially 
clean;  which  included  the  shaving  of  the  whole  body, 
careful  bathing,  and  a  perfectly  clean  suit  of  raiment. 

1  Dhourra,  still  a  common  food  in  Africa,  is  a  kind  of  millefc. 
It  is  only  given  in  this  country  to  birds ;  but  is  often  used,  when 
ground,  to  make  sweet  cakes,  in  Egypt  and  elsewhere.  It  is  a 
kind  of  cultivated  grass,  and  ib  is  grown  in  the  Holy  Land  for 
use  as  bread.     THstram,  p.  470. 

'  Brugsch,  vol.  i  pp.  263-4.  • 


l!! 


i 


476 


JOSEPH. 


The  duty  he  was  to  perform  was,  besides,  a  priestly  one, 
and  the  very  word  for  priest,  in  Egyptian,  rao.ins  ''  the 
pure  "  or  "  clean."  All  priests  wore  required  to  be  ab- 
solutely hairless,  as  a  part  of  their  purity,  the  only  ex- 
ception being  when  they  were  mourning  for  death ;  and, 
indeed,  all  Egyptians  who  wished  to  be  "  clean  "  were 
required  to  undergo  the  same  strange  purification.^ 
Wigs  were,,  therefore,  worn  by  priests  and  laymen  alike, 
to  cover  the  smoothly  shaven  skull,  and  false  beards  were 
equally  common ;  an  unshorn  chin  marking  a  foreigner 
or  a  person  of  humble  position  or  doubtful  life.  The 
great  masses  of  hair  we  see  on  the  heads  of  priests  and 
kings  in  the  paintings  are,  hence,  only  the  triumphs  of  art, 
and  the  formal  beards  on  the  statues  are  equally  artificial. 
Joseph  would  be  required  to  submit  to  this  priestly  law ; 
for  the  ghostly  council  round  Pharaoh,  who  himself  had 
to  be  admitted  into  the  priestly  caste  before  he  could 
ascend  the  throne,  dictated  every  particular  of  his  daily 
life,  and  insisted  on  their  rules  being  carried  out  to  the 
least  detail  by  every  one  who  approached  him.  The 
repeated  washing  of  the  whole  person  before  an  audience 
could  be  granted,  was  no  less  imperative,  and  clothes  fresh 
from  the  washers  must  be  put  on.  We  read,  in  fact,  of 
the  "washermen"  of  Pharaoh  and  of  their  "chief;"  a 
dignitary  o£  no  mean  rank  in  a  country  where  the  rules 
of  ceremonial  purity  were  so  exacting.  Joseph  must 
have  exchanged  the  simple  blouse  which  he,  like  all  other 
common  people,  wore  in  prison,  for  rich  garments,  pro- 
vided for  him,  before  he  entered  the  chamber  of  pre- 
sence.* J 

>  fl-eroti.,  ii.  37,  41,  47,  77. 

*  Biehm,  p.  761.  Billmann,  p.  427.  A  letter  of  a  scribe  which 
has  survived,  describing  the  troubles  of  each  position  of  life, 
8ai]^s  :  "  The  barber  shaves  even  till  night.   He  has  no  rest  excepti 


[estly  one, 
.'iins  ''  tho 
I  to  be  ab- 
only  ex- 
tath;  and, 
^n  "  were 
rification.* 
|men  alike, 
!ards  were 
foreigner 
life.     The 
)riests  and 
phs  of  art, 
Y  artificial, 
iestly  law ; 
iinself  had 
)  he  could 
f  his  daily 
out  to  the 
11  m.      The 
n  audience 
Dthes  fresh 
in  fact,  of 
chief;"  a 
)  the  rules 
seph  must 
:e  all  other 
lents,  pro- 
3r  of  pre- 


cribe  which 

bion  of  life, 

rest  except 


JOSEPH. 


'177 


It  wns  no  light  matter  for  one  outside  the  priestly  caste 
to  venture  to  interpret  a  dream,  much  less  that  of  tho 
Pliara(^h ;  for  a  slave  who  busied  himself  with  the  secret 
knowledge  reserved  by  the. hierarchy  to  themselves,  was 
liable  to  death.  It  must,  therefore,  have  been  an  anxious 
moment  for  Joseph,  when  he  waited  to  see  how  his  inter- 
pretation was  received  ;  but  its  correctness  was  so  in- 
stantly apparent,  and  the  policy  recommended  so  sound 
and  shrewd,  tliat  the  result  was  not  for  a  moment  doubtful. 
With  the  suddenness  of  despotic  countries,  the  slave 
of  the  moment  before  found  himself  raised  to  be  Grand 
Vizier  of  the  whole  land.  Pharaoh  and  his  court,  recog- 
nising, as  thoy  did,  Jie  interpretation  of  dreams  as  a 
divine  gift,  and  tracing  all  insight  into  the  future  as  sent 
from  above,  could  have  no  one  so  fit  to  put  in  the  highest 
authority  as  a  man  thus  inspired. 

He  was  therefore  set  at  once  over  both  palace  and 
narion ;  the  whole  population  being  placed  under  his 
orders;^  the  only  honour  reserved  by  Pharaoh  for  himself 
being  that  he  occupied  the  throne.  Tho  formal  investiture 
is  illustrated  in  each  particular  by  the  monuments.  The 
royal  signet-ring  transferred  from  the  hand  of  the  Pharaoh 
to  that  of  Joseph  was  his  warrant,  as  prime  minister  of  tho 
land ;  clothing  of  fine  cotton  and  linen,^  the  dress  of  the 

when  he  eats.  He  goes  from  house  to  house  to  seek  custom. 
He  wears  out  his  arms  to  fill  his  stomach."  Maspero,  p.  123.  A 
bronze  razor,  preserved  in  the  Louvre,  is  of  the  same  shape  as  ours, 
and  its  edge  is  still  keen.  De  Roug^,  Notice  des  Monuments 
Efj/yptiens  (1855),  p.  78.  To  bo  called  bald  was  an  insult  among  the 
Jovrs  (2  Kings  ii.  23). 

^  I) iV.mann,  p.  4:28.     The  above  is  tho  sense  of  Gen.  xli.  40. 

*  The  word  includes  both.  The  delicacy  of  the  best  Egyptian 
linen  may  be  judged  from  the  fact,  that  whereas  the  finest  lineu 
in  India — the  finest  now  in  the  world — has  only  100  threads  in 
an  inch  of  the  warp  and  84  in  the  woof,  that  of  Egypt  has  ab 


i 


■ill 


ij 

u 


478 


JOSEPH. 


priests,  the  highest  class  in  Egypt,  marked  his  adoption 
into  the  priestly  order ;  and  the  special  golden  neck- 
chain  put  on  him  was  the  official  sign  to  all,  of  his 
authority.^  Forthwith,  the  second  royal  chariot,  set  at 
his  disposal,  carries  him  through  the  streets  of  Memphis, 
to  make  ':nown  his  elevation ;  heralds  running  before  it 
with  the  cry,  Abrek,  abrek — "  bow  the  knee,"  "  cast 
yourselves  down"  before  him.^  The  Arabs,  strange  to 
say,  still  use  the  cry,  Abrok,  when  they  are  about  to 
alight  from  their  camels  or  asses.^ 

The  new  Egyptian  name  given  to  Joseph  has  received 
special  illustration  from  Brugsch.  He  reads  it  Zap-u-nt- 
p-aa-Auk,*  which  is  not  far  from  the  Psonthomphanek  of 

times  140  in  the  warp  and  about  64  in  the  woof.  WUhinson, 
vol.  ii.  p.  77.        '* 

*  Gesenius  aptly  says  the  Chain,  as  we  say  the  Order.  The- 
saurus, p.  361. 

^  The  words,  Gen.  xli.  40,  "  According  unto  thy  word  shall  all 
my  people  be  ruled,"  are  literally,  "  thy  mouth  shall  all  the  people 
kiss."  The  phrase,  perhaps,  comes  from  the  pracitice  in  the  East 
of  kissing  anything  received  from  a  superior,  and  pressing  it  to 
the  forehead,  to  imply  obedience  at  the  risk  of  life.  See  Rosen- 
miiller,  Morgenlandf  vol.  i.  p.  192 ;  also  G'^senius,  Thesaurus,  p. 
923  b ;  and  Wilkinson's  And.  Bgyp.,  vol.  ii.  p.  ^<03.  But  iu  ancient, 
Egypt  it  was,  in  effect,  the  designation  to  supreme  office,  for  the 
title  of  "  the  grand  mouth  "  was  that  of  a  hig'a  functionary  of  the 
Pharaohs.  We  read  of  one  who  was  "grand  mouth  to  the  whole 
land,"  and  as  such,  the  officer  to  whom  all  authority  was  confided. 
And  in  the  same  way,  when  Set-Nekt  wished  to  give  Ramesea 
III.  a  share  in  his  power,  he  raised  him  to  the  dignity  of  "  grand 
mouth  of  the  land  of  Egypt."* 

'  Chabas,  Etudes  sur  VAntiquite  historique,  pp.  408-412. 

*  Brugsch  notices  that  the  name  in  the  Bible,  Zaphnatpaneakh, 
corresponds  "  letter  for  letter "  with  this.  Rosenmiiller  and 
otLors  explain  it  as  a  pompous  tide,  meaning  "  Saviour  of  the 

•  Chabas,  Rdcherches  sur  h,  XIX.  Dyriastie, 


JOBRPH. 


470 


adoption 

len  neck- 

1-11,  of   his 

[lot,  set  at 

Memphis, 

before  it 


ie 


>»      t€ 


cast 

[strange  to 

about  to 

ts  received 
Zap-u-nt- 
iphanek  of 

Wilkinson, 

Jrder.     The- 

ord  shall  all 
II  the  people 
e  in  the  East 
ressing  it  to  - 
See  Rosen- 
rhesaurus,  p, 
at  iu  ancient, 
jffice,  for  the 
onary  of  the 
to  the  whole 
vaa  confided, 
ive  Barneses 
iy  of  "  grand 

412. 

natpaneakb, 
imiiller  and 
ciour  of  the 


the  Greek  Bible ;  and  translates  it  as  moaning,  in  the  mode 
used  by  the  Greeks  of  tho  ago  of  the  Ptolemies,  "  the 
nomarch  of  tlie  Sethroitic  uome ;  "  that  is,  of  the  district 
in  the  extreme  north-east  of  Egypt.  In  the  mouth  of  an 
Egyptian  of  Joseph's  time,  however,  he  tells  us,  it  was 
equivalent  to  "  the  governor  of  the  abode  of  Him  who 
lives,"  and  he  explains  this  as  a  reference  to  the  god 
Ankh,  with  whose  name  that  conferred  on  Joseph  con- 
cludes. This  deity,  we  are  told,  was  the  same  as  tho  god 
Thom,  who  had  splendid  temples  at  On  and  Heliopolis, 
close  to  Memphis,  and  was  also  the  tutelar  god  of  Sue- 
coth,  in  Joseph's  new  district.  Ankh,  however,  was 
especially  the  god  of  the  town  of  Pi-Thom,  and  bore  tho 
name  of  the  "  great  God  " — the  word  Ankh  itself  meaning 
"  Life  "— "  He  who  lives,"or  "  the  Living  (one) ."  Can  it 
be  that  this  is  an  unconscious  recognition  of  the  true  God, 
lingering  still  in  Egypt,  as  it  had  survived  in  Abraham's 
day,  in  the  instances  of  Abimelech  and  Melchisedek,  in 
Canaan  ?  As  Brugsch  says  :  "  It  is  the  only  time  a  like 
name  for  a  god,  which  appears  to  exclude  the  idea  of 
idolatry,  is  met  with  in  Egyptian  texts."  Nor  would  it 
be  strange  if  it  actually  referred  to  Jehovah,  since  the 
eastern  side  of  the  Delta  had  for  ages  been  more  or  less 
peopled  by  Semitic  settlers,  or  wandering  shepherds ;  who 
might  well  have  brought  with  them  the  holy  tradition 
of  the  Living  God,  which  was  still  faintly  acknowledged 
in  their  first  seat,  beyond  the  Euphrates.  That  Joseph 
should  have  been  set  specially  over  a  district  of  which 
the  tutelary  god  was  "  the  Living  One,"  is,  at  least,  note- 
worthy. It  is  singular,  moreover,  to  find  that  a  serpent, 
to  which  the  Egyptian  texts  gives  the  title  '*  the  magni- 

world,"  but  the  Egyptians  called  Egypt  "the  world."  Gea.  Thes., 
p.  1181  b.  Das  A.  und  N.  Morgenland,  vol.  i.  p.  195.  Dillmann, 
p.  229.    Congress  of  Orientalists  (1874),  p.  269, 

"1, 


'! 


I 


■■im}   i| 


480 


JOSEPH. 


ficenfc,*'  "  the  splendid,"  was  the  living  symbol  of  Ankh, 
for  this  seems  to  transport  iia  to  the  scene  in  the  desert, 
when  Moses  was  told  to  make  the  brazen  serpent,  and 
to  connect  itself  with  the  fond  superstition  which  made 
Israel  burn  incense  to  that  sacred  relic,  till  Hezekiah  put 
down  this  serpent  worship  by  destroying  its  object.^ 

Joseph  himself  tells  us  that  his  elevation  had  made 
him  an  Ab  en  Pirao  ^ — which  is  wrongly  translated  in 
our  version — "  a  father  to  Pharaoh,"  and  that  he  was 
'*  Lord  ^  of  all  his  house."  The  former  title  is  a  strictly 
Egyptian  one,  and  is  often  found  in  the  ancient  papyri, 
as  that  conferred  on  the  supreme  officials  of  the  court. 
Several  of  the  texts  preserved  in  the  British  Museum, 
written  by  the  sacred  scribes  and  officers  of  the  Pharaohs, 
allude  to  these  Ab  en  Piruo ;  their  high  rank  being  vividly 
shown  by  the  profound  respect  with  which  they  are 
mentioned.  An  illustrious  marriage  alone  was  now 
required  to  make  the  dignities  of  the  new  favourite  com- 
plete, and  this  was  presently  arranged  by  the  Pharaoh 
himself.  Asenath,  "devoted  to  Neith,"  the  daughter 
of  Potipherah,  "  devoted  to  the  sun  god,''  a  priest  of  the 
great  university  temple  of  the  Sun  at  On,  close  to  Mem- 
phis, became  his  wife,  and  thus  he  was  finally  incorporated 
into  the  highest  class  in  the  land,  the  priesthood. 

The  Pharaoh  under  whom  Joseph  was  thus  advanced 
is  believed  by  most  scholars  to  have  been  one  of  the 
foreign  race,  known  as  the  Hyksos,  or  Shepherd  Kings, 
who  for  a  long  period  hold  sway  in  Egypt,  after  they  had 


*  Brugscb,  in  Congress  of  Onentalista  (1874)^  p.  269.  History 
vol.  ii.  p.  340. 

•  Gen.  xlv.  8. 

'  Lord^jddow,  a  Semitic  word  adopted  by  the  Egyptians  ai 
the  lillo  of  the  "  captain  of  a  district ;  "  then,  for  the  chief  officer 
of  a  palace.    Brugsch,  vol.  i.  p.  221. 


of  Ankh, 
the  desert, 
rpent,  and 
hich  made 
zekiali  put 
)ject.* 
had  made 
mslated  in 
lat  he  wa3 
is  a  strictly 
lent  papyri, 

the  court, 
h  Museum, 
B  Pharaohs, 
eing  vividly 
h  they  are 
3  was  now 
ourite  com- 
he  Pharaoh 
e  daughter 
)riest  of  the 
se  to  Mem- 
ncorporated 

)od. 

IS  advanced 

one  of  the 

lerd  Kings, 

,er  they  had 

269.    History 


Egyptians  ai 
chief  officer 


JOUKFIf. 


481 


ovorthrown  the  native  dynasty.  Canon  Cook  thinks, 
indet'd,  Jot^opli  wmh  brought  to  the  Nile  before  their  suc- 
cossful  invasion,  while  Lepains  would  place  his  arrival 
under  Sethi  I.,  the  Sesostria  of  the  Greeks,  tho  first  mitivo 
ruler  after  their  expulsion,  some  centuries  later.  But  the 
weight  of  probability  seems  to  point  to  his  having  found 
the  Hyksos  already  on  the  throne,  when  he  was  sold  to 
Potiphar;  the  friendly  relations  of  the  court  to  his  family, 
contrasted  with  the  changed  bearing  to  his  descendants, 
appearing  to  suit  better  with  the  later  Hyksos  period,  as 
followed  by  tho  revolution  which  drove  out  the  Shepherd 
Kings,  than  with  any  other.^ 

The  strange  story  of  these  Semitic  invaders  must  be 
left  to  a  future  chapter,  but  one  or  two  points  fall  properly 
to  be  noticed  here.  Joseph  seems  to  have  been  brought 
to  Egypt  about  1 730  years  before  Christ,^  and  tradition 
has  assigned  the  period  of  his  glory  to  the  reign  of  tho 
Shepherd  King,  Aphobis,^  who  preceded  the  revolution 
which  expelled  his  race  by  only  a  few  years.  Like  other 
Asiatics,  he  had  imported  and  promoted  the  worship 
of  a  favourite  god.  The  Semitic  immigration,  which 
for  ages  had  prevailed  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  Delta, 
and  had,  indeed,  made  it  possible  for  the  Hyksos  to  seize 
the  Egyptian  throne,  by  the  gradual  preponderance  in 
that  region  of  warlike  tribes  of  their  race,  had  also  led  to 
a  gradual  blending  of  the  customs,  and  even  of  the  reli- 
gions, of  the  Egyptians  and  of  these  foreigners.  Syrian 
idols  were  introduced  and  largely  worshipped,  in  the  end 
even,  by  the  native  population,  and  of  these  Sutech  was 
the  chief.*     This  deity  the  Hyksos  chose  as  the  supreme 

*  Joseph,  in  Riehm.     Brugsch,  vol.  i.  p.  264.    Maajpero,  p.  174. 

*  Brugsch,  vol.  i.  p.  260.    Maapero,  p.  174. 

*  Brugsch,  vol.  i.  p.  260. 
<  Ibid.,  p.  211. 

VOL.  I.  XI 


<  41 


482 


JOSEPH. 


1 


god  of  their  newly- acquired  country,  building  at  Zoan, 
Tanis,  and  Avaris,  grand  temples  to  him,  adorned  with 
sphinxes,  a  strange  human-faced  animal  form  introduced 
by  them — and  rejecting  the  worship  of  any  other  god  of 
the  land.^  This  Sutech,  or  Set,  known  also  as  Nnb,  or 
"  the  golden,"  was  simply  the  Syrian  god  Baal^  or  more 
particularly,  Baal  Zapuna,  the  Baal-Zephon,  or  god  of  ''the 
North  Wind  "  ^  of  Scripture,  if  Brugsch  be  correct.^  In 
this  Sutech,  no  less  eminent  an  authority  than  Dr.  Birch 
has  recognised  "the  One  only  and  true  God,  as  dis- 
tinct from  all  other  deities ;"  but  this  attractive  fancy  has, 
it  is  io  be  feared,  little  to  support  it.  On  the  contrary, 
Sutech- Baal,  appears  in  Egypt  as  the  principle  of  Evil, 
the  enemy  of  light  and  of  good  in  the  seen  and  unseen 
worlds.*  He  seems,  in  fact,  to  have  been  the  same  as 
Baal-Typhon,^ — with  which,  indeed,  the  name  Zephon 
sounds  very  much  alike, — and  if  so,  he  was  pre-eminently 
the  god  of  darkness  and  of  evil,  to  whom  the  unfruitful 
sea,  the  wild  desert,  and  the  storm  were  the  congenial 
home.  His  ^'dol  was  painted  red,  and  human  sacrifices 
were  offered  to  it.*  After  the  Hyksos  ^ere  expelled,  we 
find  the  dynasty  of  Rameses  adopting  this  repulsive  wor- 
ship, but  with  the  change  of  honouring  Sutech  us  the 
god  of  victory;  which  he  already  was,  in  one  aspect, 
among  the  Hittites  of  Syria.'  But  the  popular  estimate 
of  his  attributes  is  better  seen,  in  his  having  the  hideous 
river  horse,  or  hippopotamus  ascribed  to  him  as  his 
sacred  emblem,  and  in  the  myth  of  his  being  destroyed 
at  last  in  this  form  by  the  god  Horus,  or  Light,  in  the 

*  Brugsch,  vol.  i.  p.  239.  ^  Ebers'  Durch  Gosen,  p.  611, 
«  Brugsch,  vol.  i.  p.  21-2.                *  Ibid.,  p.  236. 

*  Ebers'  Biirch  Gosen,  p.  510.       '  Plutarch,  Isis  et  Os.,  32. 

'  See  his  name  as  the  god  of  many  Canaanite  cities,  in  the  treaty 
made  by  them  with  Rameses  II.     Brugsch,  vol.  ii.  p.  72. 


t  Zoan, 
ed  witli 
roduced 
r  god  of 
Nub,  or 
or  more 
a  of  "the 
Bct.3     In 
)r.  Birch 
,  as  dis- 
'ancy  has, 
contrary, 
3  of  Evil, 
d  unseen 
)  same  as 
B   Zephon 
eminently 
unfruitful 
congenial 

sacrifices 
pelled,  we 
ilsive  wor- 
sch  as  the 
ne  aspect, 
IV  estimate 
le  hideous 
im   as   his 

destroyed 
ght,  in  the 

osen,  p.  511. 

Os.,  32. 
,  in  the  treaty 
72. 


JOSEPH. 


483 


^' 


shape  of  the  winged  disk  of  the  sun.^  The  idea  of  his 
representing  Jehovah  worship  must,  therefore,  we  fear, 
be  abandoned,  however  pleasant  it  would  have  been  to 
have  recognised  in  the  friend  of  Joseph  a  worshipper  of 
the  God  of  the  Hebrews. 

Twelve  or  thirteen  years  had  passed  since  Joseph  was 
"  stolen  from  the  land  of  the  Hebrews,''  but  he  had  now 
reached  the  height  of  prosperity,  after  vicissitudes  such 
as  could  only  happen  in  an  Eastern  despotism.  He  was 
still  a  young  man  of  thirty,  and  found  himself  a  member 
of  the  royal  order  of  the  priesthood,  with  the  chain  of 
high  oflfice  round  his  neck,  and  the  signet  ring  of  the 
Pharaoh  on  his  hand — the  virtual  ruler  of  the  greatest 
country  of  the  then  known  world.*  Two  sons  born  to 
him  helped  to  efface  the  bitter  memories  of  the  past — 
Manasseh,  "  he  who  makes  mo  forget  "  my  sorrow ;  and 
Ephraim,  "  double  fruitfulness,''  for  "  God  had  made 
him  fruitful  in  the  land  of  his  affliction.''  With  his  policy 
in  reference  to  the  famine,  it  is  hard,  however,  entirely  to 
agree ;  for  though  the  impost  of  twenty  per  cent,  laid  by 
him  on  the  produce  of  the  land  might  not  be  oppressive 
in  a  country  so  rich  as  Egypt,  it  seems,  to  modern  notions 
at  least,  very  hard  to  have  forced  the  peasantry  to  sell 
their  property  of  every  kind,  and  even  their  Uberty,  for 
food,  before  this  arrangement  was  made.^ 


*  Ebers'  Durch  Oosen  p.  510. 

•  ^(jyp.  Konigstochter,  vol.  i.  p.  232. 


*  The  taxes  in  Turkey  are  60  per  cent,  of  the  produce,  and 
in  Persia  75  per  cent.  Dillmann,  p.  4.69.  In  chap,  xlvii.  21, 
the  Sept.,  Sana,  and  Vulj?.  read  thus  :  *'  As  for  the  people,  he  made 
slaves  of  them"  etc.  A  parallel  to  the  elevation  of  Joseph 
has  been  detected  by  some  in  that  of  Sineha,  the  fugitive  Egyp- 
tian who,  after  having  risen  to  greatness  among  the  Amu,  returned 
to  Egypt,  and  was  greatly  honoured  by  the  reigning  Pharaoh. 
But  he  was  an  Egyptian,  not  a  Semite.    {Records  of  the  J'a§t,  vol. 


'I  I 

ft   sir 


484 


JOSEPH. 


That  the  sons  of  Jacob  should  have  gone  down  to 
Egypt  for  corn  when  the  fimine  began  to  press,  marks  a 
great  progress  from  the  time  when  Abraham  had  himself, 
with  all  his  tribe,  to  move  to  the  Nile  under  similar 
circumstances.  Trade  in  com  had  apparently  not  then 
been  established  between  Canaan  and  Egypt;  now  it 
appears  in  full  operation.  Joseph,  so  long  lost,  is  natur- 
ally not  recognised  in  his  Egyptian  splendour  and  in 
his  change  from  youth  to  manhood,  but  his  brethren 
still  wear  the  old  dress  of  shepherds,  and  are  easily 
remembered.  Amidst  them,  however,  there  is  no  Benja- 
min. Have  they  murdered  or  sold  RacheVa  only  other 
child,  his  one  full  brother  ?  Alike  to  make  them  feel 
something  of  the  anguish  they  had  once  caused  himself, 
and  to  discover  the  truth  as  to  his  brother,  Joseph  could 
have  taken  no  better  course  than  to  charge  them  with 
being  spies.  An  invasion  from  the  north- oast  was  the 
standing  danger  of  Egypt,  to  ward  ofiF  which  the  eastern 

vi.  p.  131.)  An  inscription  in  the  Museum  of  Turin  furnishes  a 
curious  illustration  of  Joseph's  history,  in  at  least  one  particular. 
It  is  the  funeral  record  of  one  Beka — "The  Overseer  of  the  Publio 
Granaries,  and  Controller  of  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt."  The  name 
Beka  m  ■'ns  "servant,"  or  "slave."  He  preserved  the  favour  of 
the  king  to  the  last.  The  inscription  tells  his  own  opinions  of  his 
virtues  and  is  interesting  on  many  grounds.  He  had  been  just 
and  true,  and  without  malice.  From  his  birth  to  his  death  he 
had  always  been  truthful.  "  So  I  have  heard,"  says  .he  naively. 
Love  to  his  father  and  mother  dwelt  in  his  heart,  nor  had  he 
ever  forgotten  his  obligations  to  them  from  his  tenderest  child- 
hood. Living  in  the  court  he  had  gained  the  affection  alike  of 
the  king  and  of  his  courtiers.  Strange  to  say,  there  are  no  allu- 
sions to  the  gods  of  Egypt,  in  his  inscription,  such  as  are 
generally  the  staple  of  such  compositions.  He  seems  to  have 
had  a  simple  creed — to  have  God  in  his  heart,"  and  to  seek  to 
know  ard  follow  His  commands.* 

•  Chabas,  Trans.  Soc.  Bib.  Arch.,  vol.  v.  pp.  459,  464. 


JOSEPH. 


485 


down  to 
,  marks  a 
i  himself 
ir  similar 
r  not  then 
;   now  it 
,  is  natur- 
ur  and  in 
brethren 
are  easily 
no  Benja- 
only  other 
them  feel 
d  himself,    | 
jeph  could 
them  with 
st  was  the 
the  eastern 

furnishes  a 
e  particular, 
3f  the  Publio 
."  The  name 
;he  favour  of 
Dinions  of  his 
ad  been  just 
lis  death  he 
3  .he  naively. 

nor  had  he 
derest  child- 
tion  alike  of 
J  are  no  allu- 

such  as  are 
leras  to  have 
id  to  seek  to 


464. 


V 


border  of  Egypt  had  been  defended  by  fche  great  fortified 
wall,  from  Suez  to  the  Mediterranean ;  as  China  has  been 
protected  from  the  Tartars  in  a  similar  way.  One,  at 
least,  must  be  left  behind,  a  prisoner ;  while  they  go  back 
with  corn,  and  return,  bringing  their  younger  brother. 
That  Joseph  should  swear  by  the  life  of  Pharaoh,  is  strictly 
Oriental.  The  Egyptian  king  was  worshipped  as  a  god, 
and  an  oath  by  his  life,  like  that  of  the  Persians  "  by  the 
king's  head/'  would  be  reckoned  more  binding  than  any 
other.  Strangely  enough,  the  form  was  still  in  use  in 
Egypt  in  the  twelfth  century,  under  the  Caliphs,  and  was 
regarded  as  equivalent  to  pledging  one's  own  life  on  his 
keeping  his  oath  ;  for  to  break  it  was  death.^  Egyptian 
was  spoken  at  court  even  under  the  Hyksos,  so  that  an 
interpreter  was  required,  and  in  the  end  nine  of  the 
brethren  are  allowed  to  return ;  Simeon,  the  second  eldest, 
being  left  in  prison  as  a  hostage,  rather  than  Reuben,  the 
eldest,  whose  kind  feeling  in  seeking,  long  before,  to 
gave  his  brother's  life  was  thus  remembered. 

The  gifts  sent  with  Benjamin  to  the  unknown  digni- 
tary at  Pharaoh's  Court,  to  win  his  favour,  mark  an 
Eastern  custom  still  in  force,  never  to  approach  the  great 
without  a  present.  But  nothing  could  well  be  simpler  than 
the  ofifering  of  Jacob,  of  ''the  best  fruits,"  or,  as  the  word 
means,  "  the  song  "  of  the  land — a  little  balm  from  Gilead, 
or  rather  from  the  hot  valley  of  Jericho,  a  little  debash, 
or  thickened  syrup  of  grapes,^  some  gum  tragacanth, 
some  gum  of  the  cistus  or  ladanum,  some  pistacio  nuts 

*  Bosenmuller,  vol.  i.  p.  201.    Michaelis,  vol.  v.  p.  217. 

'  Not  honey  of  bees,  but  what  the  Arabs  still  call  dibs,  a 
thickened  syrup  of  grapes,  still  a  great  favourite  in  Egypt,  to 
which  three  hundred  camels'  loads  of  it  are  sent  each  year  from 
Hebron.*  i 

•  Delitzscb,  Die  Genesis,  vol.  ii.  p.  106. 


it 


* 


■1 


Sf     III 

i- 


486 


JOSEPH. 


from  the  terebinth  tree,  and  some  almonds.  Oultivated 
fruits  had  not,  apparently,  as  yet  been  grown  in  Canaan, 
so  that  only  natural  products  could  be  offered.^  The 
grief  of  Jacob  at  losing  Rachel's  only  remaining  child, 
the  eager  pledges  of  Reuben  and  Judah  to  bring  him 
back  safely,  and  the  double  money  to  pay  for  the  last 
and  the  present  food,  are  natural  touches  that  speak  to 
the  heart  even  now.  But  a  new  chapter  in  the  strange 
drama  was  about  to  open,  for  on  reaching  Egypt,  with 
Benjamin,  they  were  presently  invited  to  the  great  man's 
palace. 

The  mansions  of  noble  Egyptians  stood  within  high 
walls,  decorated  with  paintings ;  the  entrance  being  by  a 
huge  gate,  flanked  at  each  side  by  lofty  poles,  from  which 
floated  long  screamers.  The  gate  opened  on  a  wide  paved 
court-yard,  along  the  sides  of  which  ran  covered  walks, 
supported  on  slender,  painted  wooden  columns.  A  second 
high  doorway  at  the  back  of  this  court  led  into  the 
vast  gardens  of  the  mansion,  with  rows  of  fruit  trees 
and  trellised  vines,  clumps  of  shrubs,  beds  of  flowers,  and 
of  vegetables.  Palms,  sycamores,  and  acacia  trees, 
figs,  pomegranates,  and  jasmine,  grew  in  luxuriance; 
a  large  tank  in  the  middle  of  the  grounds  supplying 
abundant  water  for  the  roots  of  the  trees  and  for  the 
plants,  and  numerous  gardeners  seeing  that  all  were  duly 
cared  for,  and  that  the  canals,  which  led  the  water  from 
the  Nile,  were  kept  full  by  the  labours  of  oxen,  which 
turned  water-wheels  into  them  day  and  night. 

At  one  side  of  this  paradise  rose  the  mansion,  some- 
times of  vast  extent  but  only  of  one  storey  high,  at  others 
of  several  storeys.  Almost  all  the  rooms  on  the  ground 
floor  had  separate  doors,  opening  into  a  Verandah,  sup- 
ported by  coloured  wooden  columns,  and  running  the 
»  Tristram,  Nat.  Hist.,  pp.  336,  362,  365,  393.  410,  468. 


JOSEPH. 


487 


iltlvated 
Canaan, 
l.i  The 
g  child, 
ing  him 
the  last 
speak  to 
strange 
pt,  with 
at  man's 

hin  high 
jing  by  a 
>m  which 
de  paved 
d  walks, 
A  second 
into  the 
'uit  trees 
Ners,  and 
ia  trees, 
curiance  j 
lupplying 
I  for  the 
vere  duly 
iter  from 
3n,  which 

on,  some- 
at  others 
e  ground 
dah,  sup- 
ming  the 
,458. 


If  ■ 


whole  length  of  the  garden  side  of  the  house.  A  long 
row  of  storerooms,  running  at  a  right  angle  to  this,  closed 
the  view  behind,  and  hid  away  the  garden  produce,  th^ 
wine  jars,  and  the  larder  of  the  establishment.^  The  out- 
side of  the  mansion,  like  the  enclosing  wall,  was  decorated 
with  paintings  or  ornamental  designs. 

The  furniture  was  in  keeping  with  this  exterior. 
Couches,  sofas,  and  lounges,  often  of  precious  woods 
encrusted  with  ebony  or  ivory  and  set  off  with  gilding, 
showed  exquisite  artistic  skill  in  their  fanciful  shapes, 
like  those  of  lions,  sphinxes,  horses,  and  other  animals, 
and  by  their  elaborate  carving ;  and  there  was  a  profusion 
of  tables  of  all  sizes  and  designs,  and  elegantly  cawed 
chairs,  of  different  kinds — at  times  of  ivory,  but  always 
costly  and  beautiful.  On  the  sideboard,  tables,  and  con- 
soles, stood  artistically-worked  Syrian  drinking  vessels  of 
many  forms  :  beautiful  vases  of  gold,  bronze,  rock  crystal 
or  other  precious  material,  filled  with  flowers,  were 
everywhere ;  rare  perfumes  rose  from  alabaster  cups,  and 
the  foot  sank  in  the  thick  pile  of  the  carpets  that  covered 
the  floors,^  or  trod  on  the  skins  of  lions  and  other  fero- 
cious beasts. 

The  attendance  was  appropriately  magnificent.  Troops 
of  slaves  and  ofiicials  ministered  to  every  real  or  imagin- 
ary want  of  their  lord.  A  band  of  priests  took  charge  of 
the  religious  rites  of  the  household,  supported  by  scribes 
and  astrologers.  A  confidential  slave  reigned  over  all  the 
more  private  details  of  the  establishment ;  his  authority 
marked,  as  he  daily  went  his  rounds,  by  the  curved  baton 
of  office   which   he   carried.     There  were,  storekeepers, 

»  Ebers'  Uarda,  vol.  i.  p.  123. 
I       2  Jjarda,  p.  137.    Eine  ^gyptische  Konigstochterj  vol.  i.  pp.  14, 
206.     Yigouroux,  vol.  ii.  p.  121.     Wilkinson^  vol.  ii.  pp.  136  ffi 
Lepsius,  Benhmaler,  vol.  ii.  p.  102. 


488 


JOSEPH. 


chair-bearers,  basket-makers,  gardeners,  baib'ffs,  glass- 
blowers,  gold-workers,  tailors,  barbers,  shepherds,  por- 
ters, hunters,  fishermen,  men  for  taking  charge  of  the 
road ;  washermen  in  numbers,  under  a  head  washerman, 
to  take  charge  of  the  linen ;  carpenters,  potters,  wood- 
cutters, bakers,  and  many  more.  Female  slaves  spun 
the  flax  into  thread,  prepared  the  skeins,  and  finally  wove 
the  linen  of  the  household ;  and  a  whole  multitude  of 
others  of  both  sexes  had  duties  either  outside  the  mansion 
or  within  it.  The  acrobat  and  the  dancer,  the  harpist 
and  the  singer,  and  many  others,  strove  to  while  away 
the  dulness  of  their  lord's  evenings.  His  chief  glory, 
however,  was  in  his  farm,  with  its  flocks  and  herds,  his 
household,  with  its  throng  of  slaves  and  artizaus,  and  in 
his  luxurious  yachts  on  the  sacred  river.  The  use  of  the 
horse  had  been  introduced  by  the  Hyksos,  and  doubtless 
in  Joseph's  day  high  dignitaries  already  boasted  of  their 
studs  and  chariots.  The  cat  purred  at  the  great  man's 
hearth,  the  dog  ran  at  his  side,  and  he  amused  himself 
with  pet  apes.  Oxen  of  uifFerent  kinds  fed  in  his  mea- 
dows, and  he  hunted  the  gazelle  and  the  antelope.  Goat, 
veal,  and  beef,  varied  by  hyasna,  graced  his  table,  but  he 
shuddered  like  a  Jew  at  the  idea  of  pork,  and  cared  little 
for  mutton.  Ducks,  geese,  doves,  and  pigeons,  wild  and 
tame,  were  as  common  as  now,  and  domestic  fowl  abound- 
ed on  every  side.  His  bread  was  generally  of  barley, 
varied  by  biscuits  and  pastry.  Grapes,  figs,  and  dates 
furnished  his  desserts;  and  wine  and  beer  his  drink. 
Dressed  in  pure  white  linen,  he  wore  only  sandals  or 
walked  barefoot ;  but  gold  collars,  bracelets  and  anklets, 
showed  his  wealth,  and  he  carried  a  wand  for  dignity. 

Accustomed  to  the  simple  life  of  the  tent,  the  splen- 
dour of  such  a  dignitary  must  have  awed  his  shep- 
herd brothers,  but  their  wonder,  dashed  with  fear,  must 


JOSEPH. 


489 


ds,  por- 
e  of  the 
sherman, 

s,  wood- 
res  spun 
illy  wove 
bitude  of 

mansion 
harpist 
lile  away 
ief  glory, 
lerds,  his 
S;  and  in 
ise  of  the 
doubtless 
i  of  their 
jat  man's 
d  himself 
bis  mea- 
30.  Goat, 
le,  but  he 
ared  little 
,  wild  and 
1  abound- 
of  barley, 
md  dates 
lis  drink, 
landals  or 
d  anklets, 
ignity. 
he  splen- 
his  shep- 
fear,  must 


have  been  deepened  when  they  were  invited  to  eat  with 
him ;  for  the  state  of  an  Egyptian  Grand  Vizier  was  some- 
thing of  which  till  then  they  could  have  had  no  idea. 
The  dining  chamber  was  a  decorated  hall,  resplendent 
with  colour  and  gilding,  and  furnished  with  regal  magni- 
ficence. 

Slaves  laid  garlands  of  roses  ^  round  the  shoulders  of 
the  guests,  and  put  wreaths  of  lotus  blossoms  on  their 
heads,  while  others  handed  them  wine  and  food  from 
sideboards  loaded  with  every  delicacy  and  decked  with 
flowers.  Choirs  of  musicians  during  the  dessert  entered 
the  chamber  and  played  on  harps,  lutes,  small  drums  and 
flutes,  the  conductor  beating  time  with  his  hands,  and 
the  company  joining  with  measured  clappings,^  while 
female  dancers  added  to  their  delight. ^  It  may  be  that 
Joseph,  though  he  had  adopted  Egyptian  manners, 
avoided  compliance  with  some  particulars,  but,  as  a  whole, 
the  iron  force  of  prescription  in  so  formal  a  country 
would  doubtless  make  his  mansion  very  much  like  that 
of  others  of  his  rank. 

The  delight  of  Joseph  at  the  sight  of  Benjamin  is 
heightened  by  the  proof  it  gives  that  his  brothers  have 
not  at  least  been  guilty  of  a  double  crime.  With  true 
Eastern  haste  the  creatures  to  be  eaten  at  noon  are 
cooked  at  once  on  being  killed ;  water  is  brought  to  each 
guest  that  he  may  wash  his  feet,  as  Egyptian  politeness 
demanded ;  ^  the  brethren  bow  themselves  to  the  earth  in 
Eastern  fashion  before  the  great  man  when  he  appears, 
having  first  made  ready  their  gift  to  present  to  him. 
Joseph's  eating  at  a  table  apart,  as  required  by  his 
priestly  caste  and  high  dignity,  which  would  not  allow 
him  to    eat  with  the  laity;    the  placing  another  table 


!1 


i 


*  Uarda,  vol.  ii.  pp.  80-96. 


Vigouroux,  vol.  ii.  p.  127. 


I 


Wilkinson t  vol.  i.  p.  76. 


400 


JOSEPH. 


for  his  Egyptian  guests,  who,  though  not  of  priestly  rank, 
could  not  sit  with  "  unclean "  foreigners,  are  true  to 
the  old  life  they  depict.  Egypt  was  the  Japan  or  China 
of  early  antiquity ;  sliut  oat  from  intercourse  with  other 
countries  as  much  as  possible,  and  regarding  their  people, 
however  cultured,  as  impure  barbarians.  The  priests 
would  eat  or  drink  nothing  that  came  from  abroad,  and, 
like  the  Hindoos  with  Europeans  now,  no^Egyptian  would 
use  a  dish  or  knife  that  had  been  touched  by  a  foreigner.* 

Joseph's  sending  food  from  his  table ^  to  his  brethren, 
and  marking  his  favour  for  Benjamin  by  honouring  him 
with  a  succession  of  special  delicacies,  was  characteristic 
of  antiquity.  In  the  same  way  Ulysses  is  honoured 
at  a  feast  with  the.  long  chine  of  a  white-toothed  swine, 
and  so  also  is  Ajax;*  and  guests  of  Orientals,  where 
specially  welcome,  are  similarly  distinguished  to  the  pre- 
sent day. 

The  mixture  of  kindness  and  the  reverse,  in  Joseph's 
subsequent  act  of  again  filling  the  sacks  of  his  brethren 
with  wheat  and  returning  their  money ;  but  at  the 
same  time  putting  his  *'  divining  bowl "  into  the  sack  of 
Benjamin ;  appears  to  have  its  only  explanation  in  the 
desire  to  test  in  some  decisive  way  the  feeling  which  the 
ten  sons  of  other  mothers  bore  to  the  one  of  their  num- 
ber dearest  to  him  as  the  son  of  Rachel;  a  result  on 
which,  doubtless,  his  future  treatment  of  them  depended. 
That  he  should  have  a  divining  bowl  at  all,  is,  however, 
out  of  keeping  with  his  simple  faith  in  the  God  of  his 


*  Straho,  xvii.  1,  6.     Herod.,  ii.  41. 

2  Kings  and  priests  ate  flesh  in  Egypt,  daily,  if  they  liked. 
(Herod.,  ii.  37,  77.)    The  priests,  however,  abstained  from  mutton^ 
and  pork,  and  some  of  them,  like  the  Brahmins,  were  vegetarians, 
Dillmann,  p.  440.      Michaelis,  vol.  iv.  p.  188. 

*  Odyss.,  xiv.  437.   Ilias,  vii.  321. 


JOSEPH. 


491 


rank, 

ue   to 

China 

other 

Deople, 

priests 

d,  and, 

would 

igner.^ 

ethren, 

ng  him 

iteristic 

jnoured 

swine, 

where 

he  pre- 

oseph's 
)rethren 

at  the 
I  sack  of 
n  in  the 
hich  the 
nr  num- 
3sult  on 
jpended. 
lowever, 
d  of  his 


bey  liked, 
m  mutton 
getariana. 


father,  in  reverence  towards  whom  he  had,  as  a  child, 
seen  all  such  idolatrous  and  superstitious  associations 
buried  with  contempt,  beneath  the  terebinths  of  She- 
chem.  But  in  so  early  an  ago,  and  amidst  such  a 
religious  system  as  that  of  Egypt,  entire  superiority  to 
superstition  must  have  been  difficult,  while  it  might  woU 
consist  with  substantial  fidelity  to  his  hereditary  faith, 
for  whan  has  superstition  not  found  some  hold  even  in 
the  ^dter  ages  of  the  Church  ? 

The  practice  of  divining  by  bowls  of  water  or  other 
fluid  is  of  immemorial  antiquity,  and  was  widely  spread, 
for  we  find  traces  of  it  in  ancient  India,  Greece,  Rome, 
and  Egypt,  as  well  as  among  the  Hebrews,  in  this 
case  of  Joseph.  Some  terra  cotta  vases  in  the  British 
Museum,  brought  from  Babylonia,  and  written  over, 
inside,  with  magical  spells,  may  perhaps  even  show,  in 
the  mixture  of  Hebrew,  Rabbinical  and  Chaldee  words 
in  these  incantations,  that  such  a  form  of  divination 
obtained  among  the  Eastern  dispersion  to  a  late  period. 

The  word  used  by  Joseph's  steward  for  divining  is 
itself  peculiar,  meaning  as  it  does,  "to  utter  a  low, 
whispering  hissing  sound,''  ai^d  hence  "  to  practise  en- 
chantment by  uttering  magic  spells,^  which  sorcerers 
did  in  whispers  and  mutterings.  The  name  "  kondu," 
given  in  the  Greek  Bible  for  the  bowl  is  also  curious, 
for  it  has  become  naturalized  in  Arabic  and  Persian,  and 
was  the  very  word  for  the  mystical  saucers  or  dishes,  in 
the  shape  of  an  Egyptian  lotus  flower,  used  by  the 
ancient  Indian  priests  in  religious  ceremonies,  and  also 
in  Egypt  itself,  at  the  beginning  of  the  third  cen- 
tury of  our  era  for  similar  purposes.     Indeed,  Norden, 

*  "  Nahasb."  It  is  used  twice  in  Gen.  xliv.  5, 15,  and  also,  by 
Labau,  Geru  xxx.  27.  The  name  for  a  serpent,  from  its  hissing, 
is  Naluish. 


'^ 


492 


JOSEPH. 


the  German  traveller,^  tells  us  that  he  saw  a  kind  of 
fortune  telling  there,  last  century,  by  dishes  of  water,  and 
Lane,  in  his  "  Modern  Ej^yptians,"  ^  describes  a  form  of 
pretended  sorcery  by  looking  into  a  drop  of  ink  lying  in 
the  palm  of  the  hand,  as  surviving  still. 

The  modes  in  which  these  bowls  were  used  in  ancient 
times  were  doubtless  various.  One  was  by  filling  them 
with  water  and  then  putting  into  it  small  plates  of  silver 
or  gold,  or  precious  stones,  with  the  likeness  of  the 
inquirer  on  them,  the  answer  being  reckoned  good  or 
bad  according  as  the  image  was  refracted  on  the  surface.^ 
Another  was,  by  (iastening  a  ring  to  a  thread  and  hanging 
it  over  the  water  in  the  bowl,  the  oracle  revealing  itself 
by  the  t^ps  of  the  ring  on  this  or  that  part  of  the  bowl, 
and  also  by  tlieir  frequency  or  strength.*  These  were 
the  modes  known  to  Pliny.  Psellus,  a  great  theological 
writer  of  the  Greek  Church,^  tells  us  that  "  divination  by 
bowls  was  invented  by  the  Assyrians,  whose  cleverness 
(in  the  use  of  them)  was  extreme."     "  The  bowl  was  filled 

*  Norden's  '^oyage  d'Egypte  et  de  Nuhie  (1752-55),  vol.iii.  p.  98. 
Norden  says  he  had  sent  to  the  local  dignitary  with  the  usual 
presents,  to  ask  protection  and  to  sho'v  the  firman  of  the  Porte 
as  his  authority  for  wishing  to  visit  the  country.  But  the  envoy 
was  met  by  the  answer,  strikingly  like  that  of  Joseph  to  his 
brethren:  "  The  firman  of  the  Porte  is  nothing  to  me.  I  am,  in 
this  part,  myself  the  Grand  Seignior.  I  know  already  what  kind 
of  folks  you  are.  I  have  consulted  my  cup,  and  I  find  you  are 
those  of  whom  our  prophets  have  spoken — Frenchmen  in  disguise^ 
who  would  come,  and  by  small  gifts  and  pleasant  insinuating 
manners,  go  about  everywhere,  examine  the  state  of  the  country ; 
leave  in  the  end  to  report  at  home,  and  finally  return  with  a 
multitude  of  other  Frenchmen,  to  conquer  the  land  and  hill  us  alL 

^  Vol.  ii.  p.  362.     Lenormant  says  he  has  seen  this  at  Aleppo. 

*  Billmann,  p.  442.  ^ 

*  Trans.  Soc.  Bib.  Arch.,  vol.  ii.  pp.  114-117. 

»  Born  A.D.  1020;  died  A. D.  1106.  •  i^ 


JOSEPH. 


493 


kind  of 
;er,  and 
form  of 
ying  in 

ancient 
g  them 
f  silver 

of  the 
good  or 
mrface.^ 
hanging 
ig  itself 
he  bowl, 
3se  were 
jological 
ation  by 
everness 
vas  filled 

.  iii.  p.  98. 
the  usual 
tlie  Porte 
ihe  envoy 
ph  to  his 

I  am,  in 
what  kind 
I  you  are 
I  disguiaet 
•slnuating 

country  ; 
rn  with  a 
',ill  us  alL 
i  Aleppo. 


\ 


with  water,  which  was  made  susceptible  of  prophetic 
inspiration  by  ceremonies  and  incantations  used  over  it. 
This  inspiration  or  divine  force  comes  from  the  earth  and 
has  only  a  partial  action.  When  it  enters  the  water  it 
makes  a  sound  which  the  diviners  cannot  interpret,  but, 
when  it  spreads  through  the  contents  of  the  bowl, 
other  confused  sounds  are  heard,  from  which  the  know- 
ledge  of  the  future  is  drawn.  This  force,  or  broath,  de- 
rived from  the  material  world,  has  always  an  uncertain 
or  obscure  character,  as  if  sent  on  purpose  to  help  the 
diviners,  by  making  it  impossible  at  any  time  to  convict 
them  of  deception."^ 

Delivered,  by  Joseph's  self-disclosure  to  them,  from 
their  fear  of  slavery  as  the  punishment  for  the  apparent 
theft  of  the  divining  bowl,  the  future  removal  of  his 
brethren  with  their  father  to  Egypt  is  speedily  ar:anged. 
Judah*s  offer  to  remain  as  a  slave  in  place  of  Benjamin, 
the  seeming  offender,  and  the  touching  pathos  with  which 
he  tells  the  story  of  Jacob's  agony  of  soul  for  fear  of 
this  last  remembrance  of  Rachel  vanishing  from  him  as 
Joseph  had  done,  had  shown  that  they  are  loyal  to  his 
brother,  and  overpowered  him  by  tender  recollections. 
Egyptian  baggage  and  transport  waggons  are  at  their 
service,  and  they  need  not  be  anxious  about  bringing 
all  their  household  stuff,  for  the  good  of  all  the  land  of 
Egypt  is  theirs.  In  Eastern  fashion,  they  are  dismissed 
with  gifts  of  costly  clothing  ^  to  wear  on  high  days  and 
great  occasions;^  the  ten  receiving  each  a  suit,  but 
Benjamin,  his   mother's   son,  five,  with  three  hundred 

*  Quoted  by  Lenormant,  La  Divination^  p.  80.    Ephi  em  Syrus. 
Opera  omnia,  (Rome,  1737,)  vol.  i.  p.  100. 

2  Not  "charges  of  clothiiif^,"  but  lit.  "clothes  to  change," i.e., 
to  wear  on  grand  days,  instead  of  their  common  ones. 

*  Gen.  xxvii.  15.    Judges  xiv.  12, 19.    2  Kings  v.  22. 


t 


494 


JOSEPH. 


shekels  of  silver  besides.  "  Ten  asses  laden  with  the  good 
thinjjs  of  E^ypt,  and  ton  she  asses  laden  with  corn  and 
bread  and  meat,"  for  the  use  of  his  father  on  the  way, 
complete  the  present.  The  representation  on  the  walls 
of  the  tombs  of  13eai  Hassan,  of  the  presentation  of  the 
Amu,  or  Semitic  strangers,  to  a  high  ofHcor  of  Pharaoh, 
described  on  an  eai-lier  page,  may  help  to  bring  before 
the  mind,  the  appearance  of  the  Hebrew  immigrants.  ^ 

Once  more,  then,  in  the  Providence  of  God,  the  face 
of  the  chosen  people  is  turned  to  the  Nile  j  this  time  to 
find  there  a  kindly  shelter  in  which  to  grow  strong 
enough  to  return,  centuries  later,  not  as  a  tribe,  but  as  » 
nation.  Slowly  driving  their  flocks  before  them,  Jacob 
and  his  encampment,  numbering  about  seventy  souls' 
connected  with  him  by  blood,  but  also  a  great  multitude 
of  .slaves  and  dependents  destined  to  be  ultimately 
merged  in  the  community,  passed  over  the  uplands  of 
the  South  to  Beersheba,  the  home  and  sanctuary  of  his 
fathers.  There,  as  was  fitting  at  such  a  time,  sacrifices 
are  offered  to  "El,"  the  God  of  Isaac,  and  a  vision 
of  the  night  removes  any  remaining  fear  respecting  the 
leaving  Canaan.  The  days  of  his  long  sorrow  for  his 
lost  son  are  at  last  over,  and  he  can  look  forward  to 
having  his  eyes  closed  by  him,  when  h*''  life  is  ended.^ 

Goshen,*  the  district  on  the  north-east  of  Egypt,  at 
last  reached,  Joseph  sets  forth  in  his  chariot,  with  due 
retinue,  to  "  go  up  "  from  the  lower  lying  Memphis,  to 

*  Page  360.  See  also  Birch,  Egypt  from  the  Monuments,  pp.  65-67. 
'  Seventy-five  in  the  Septuagint,  counting  in  five  descendants 

of   Ephraim    and    Manasseh.      Exod.  i.  h.     Num.  xxvi   28-37. 
Dent.  X.  22  (Sept.).   Acts  vii.  14. 

*  Arabs  still  go  to  Egypt,  in  bad  years,  to  live  till  better  times 
come.     Hitzig,  Qeschichte,  p.  66. 

*  Goshen  ia  derived  by  Hitzig  from  the  Persian,  Ganzen — a 
cow.     Geachichte,  etc.,  p-  60  *    •  > 


JOSEPH. 


495 


le  good 

)rii  aud 

10  way, 

10  walls 

of  the 

iiaraoli, 

before 

iits.  ^ 

bo  face 

time  to 

strong 

but  aa  fl. 

n,  Jacob 

y  souls' 

lultitude 

Itimately 

)lauds  of 

ry  of  his 

sacrifices 

a  vision 

3 ting  the 

V  for  his 

rward  to 

mded.^ 

Qgypt,  at 

with  due 

mphis,  to 

,  pp.  65-67. 
jscendaiits 
:vL   28-37. 

stter  times 

Gauzen — a 


Bee  hJH  father's  face  once  more.  '*  And  Joseph  presented 
hiinsolf  unto  liitii  ;  and  ho  fe;ll  on  his  neck,  and  wept  on 
his  neck  much  and  long/  and  Israel  suid  unto  Joseph, 
Now,  let  mo  die,  since  I  have  seen  thy  face,  because  thou 
art  yet  alive.'' 

By  dexterous  arrangement,  permission  is  soon  ob- 
tained from  Pharaoh  that  the  new  comers  should  settle 
in  the  land  of  Goshen,  as  a  district  suited  for  pasture ; 
and  where  tliey  would  be  apart  from  the  Plgyptians,  by 
whom  foreign  shepherd  tribes  were  greatly  disliked,  at 
least  while  they  remained  nomadic ;  though  native  shep- 
herds were  numerous  in  the  Nile  valley.  Indeed,  Egypt 
abounded  in  cattle  and  flocks,^  and  Pharaoh  himself  had 
herds ;  *  the  monuments  showing  multitudes  of  asses, 
cattle,  sheep  and  goats,  both  royal  and  of  private  owner- 
ship. Woollen  clothing  was  doubtless  forbidden  to  be 
worn  on  visits  to  the  temples,  or  by  the  priests,  or  for 
the  wrappings  of  the  dead;  mutton  was  prohibited  to 
both  kings  and  priests,  only  beef,  veal  and  geese  being 
allowed  to  be  eaten  by  them ;  and  goats  and  sheep  could 
be  offered  as  sacrifices  only  in  a  few  districts.*  Yet 
mutton  was  eaten  in  some  parts,  and  the  Egyptian  shep- 
herd caste  lived  freely  among  the  people;  swineherds 
only  seeming  to  have  been  especially  despised.  The 
hatred  of  foreign  free  shepherd  tribes  had  doubtless 
been  intensified  by  the  domination  of  the  Shepherd  Kings, 
and  even  under  one  of  them,  as  the  Pharaoh  of  Joseph 
may  be  supposed  to  have  been,  local  customs  and 
prejudices  could  not  be  treated  so  lightly  as  to  permit 
actual  nomades,  such  as  those  of  Jacob's  encampment, 
to  enter  the  cultivated  districts.  The  Pharaoh  himself, 
however,  we  are  told,  was  pleased  to  find  among  them 


U 


Literally. 
Gen.  xlvii.  6. 


2  Gen.  xlvii.  17. 
*  H'irod.,  ii.  42.  46. 


496 


JOSEPH. 


men  accustomed  to  cattle,  and  chose  from  them  chief 
herdsmen  for  his  own  stock.  How  vast  that  must  have 
been,  we  can  imagine  from  the  bounty  of  Rameses  III.  to 
the  temples,  which  amounted  in  the  single  instance  of  that 
of  Thebes  to  no  fewer  than  91,223  cattle  of  different  kinds, 
and  in  that  of  Heliopolis,  to  an  additional  45,510.^ 

The  interview  of  Jacob  with  the  mighty  Pharaoh  is  no 
less  artless  in  its  pathos  than  other  parts  of  the  narrative. 
It  is  natural  to  ask  an  old  man  his  age,  and  as  natural 
that  the  answer  should  be  a  comment  on  the  life  so 
nearly  over.  And  so  it  was  with  the  king.  With 
touching  dignity  and  simplicity  Jacob  speaks  as  one  at 
the  end  of  his  career.  In  comparison  with  the  lives  of 
his  fathers,  its  one  hundred  and  thirty  years  had  been 
short;  for  Abraham  had  lived  one  hundred  and  sev^enty- 
five  years,  and  Isaac  one  hundred  and  eighty ;  and  it  had 
been  "  evil,"  for  he  thinks  of  the  long  and  hard  service 
he  had  had  with  Laban,  and  the  troubles  he  had  had  ic 
his  household — the  loss  of  Rachel  and  of  Joseph,  among 
others.  It  had  indeed  been  a  "  pilgrimage,"  for  life  is 
that  in  any  case,  but  still  more  truly  in  his — the  dweller 
in  tents,  wandering  hither  and  thither  with  his  flocks, 
through  all  the  past,  and  now  in  his  last  days  entering  a 
third  land  as  his  xiome.  Appropriately,  he  leaves  tlie 
presence  of  the  Pharaoh,  after  asking  for  him  an  old 
man's  blessing. 

*  Harris  Papyrus.  Becords  of  the  Past,  vol.  vi.  pp.  36,  38, 47, 59. 
The  history  of  Menephtah,  the  Pharaoh  of  the  Exodns,  offers  us  a 
striking  analogy  to  the  permission  granted  Jacob  and  hiB  sons  to 
settle  in  Egypt.  A  Papyrus  informs  us,  that  under  his  reign, 
Bhasu  or  Semites  came  to  Egypt  from  I(hiraea,  to  pasture  their 
flocks  at  Pa-thum,  or  Pithora,  in  the  grazing  land  belonging  to 
the  king,  and  received  permission  from  the  king  to  establish 
themselves  on  it.*  ^        ^ 

•  The  Papyrus  Anastasi.  \ 


JOSEPH. 


497 


lem  chief 
nust  have 
es  III.  to 
ice  of  that 
nt  kinds, 
0.1 

raoh  is  no 

narrative. 

as  natural 

le   life  so 

ig.     With 

as  one  at 

le  lives  of 

had  been 

d  seventy- 

and  it  had 

ard  service 

lad  had  in 

ph,  among 

for  life  is 

he  dweller 

his  flocks, 

entering  a 

leaves  the 

im    an  old 


J6,  38, 47, 69. 
s,  offers  us  a 
i  hig  sons  to 
er  his  reign, 
asture  their 
belonging  to 
to  establish 


. 


The  last  scene  of  the  patriarch's  life — ^hig  dying  bless- 
ing  on  his  sons — will  be  better  considered  hereafter;  but 
the  unwavering  faith  in  the  Divine  promise  of  Canaan 
shmes  out  strongly,  in  the  command  that  he  should  be 
buried  beside  Abraham  and  Isaac  in  the  cave  at  Mach- 
pelah.  "  And  when  Jacob  had  made  an  end  of  com- 
manding his  sons,  he  gathered  up  his  feet  into  the  bed, 
and  yielded  up  the  ghost,  and  was  gathered  unto  his 
people.  And  Joseph  fell  upon  his  father's  face,  and 
wept  upon  him,  and  kissed  him." 

As  an  adopted  Egyptian,  Joseph  naturally  honoured 
his  father  by  a  costly  embalming,  the  greatest  desire  of 
any  Egyptian  heart;  from  the  universal  belief  that  the 
fate  of  the  soul  depended  on  the  preservation  of  the 
r  body.  As  first  Minister  of  State,  and  a  high  dignitary 
of  the  priestly  caste,  he  had  physicians  in  his  service, 
for  Egypt  was  rich  in  them,  as  a  special  order  of  the 
priesthood.  The  corpse  would  be  carried  to  the  spacious 
embalming  houses  outside  the  city,  and  left  there  forty 
days  in  the  hands  of  those  set  apart  to  this  dismal  art. 
Thirty  days  more  had  to  pass  before  the  mourning  was 
over, — making  seventy  in  all,  only  two  less  than  for  a 
kingji  and  then  the  wish  of  the  dead  could  be  fulfilled, 
by  carrying  him  to  Canaan.  The  days  of  mourning  had 
seen  Joseph's  household  abstaining  from  all  amusements 
and  luxuries,  the  bath,  wine,  fine  dishes  or  rich  clothing  : 
Joseph's  beard  and  hair  had  been  suffered  to  grovv,  and 
he  had  worn  the  special  mourning  dress.^  If  the  funeral 
procession,  at  least  in  its  starting  from  Memphis  or  On, 
was  in  other  respects  like  that  of  a  high  Egyptian,  it 
may  even  now  be  restored  in  fancy  from  the  pictures  on 
some  of  the  tombs ;  but  idolatrous  details  are  so  mixed 

'  Wilkinson,  vol.  ii.  p.  374.     JDiod.,  i.  72. 
•  Wilkinson,  vol.  ii.  p.  374     Ebers'  Durch  Goseriy  p.  629, 
VOL.    I  K   K 


40? 


JOSEPH. 


up  with  others,  that  it  is  impossible  to  separate  such 
afi  would  geern  natural  in  the  case  of  a  servant  of  the 
One  God,  like  Jacob.     We  know,  however,  from  Gene- 

^  fiis,^  that  the  cavalcade  which  escorted  the  body  to  its 
hist  resting  place  was  at  once  large  and  illustrious. 
The  courtiers  and  ministers  of  state  rode  in  it  in  their 
chariots ;  many  of  the  slaves  of  Joseph  svsrelled  his  train ; 
the  asses  and  vehicles  of  a  pnstoral  tribe  bore  the  "  house  " 
of  Jacob — the  children,  only,  remaining  behind  ;  and  the 
whole  cortege  was  guarded  and  made  more  striking  by  a 
force  of  Egyptian  horse  and  charioteers.  Having  reached 
the  open-air  threshing  floor  known  as  Atad,  "the  Cactus  " 
— perhaps  from  thickets  of  prickly  pear  growing  round — 
the  bier  rested  for  seven  days,^  while  the  air  resounded 
with  the  wailings  o£  the  mourners,  so  characteristic  of 
tiie  East  in  all  ages.  Possibly,  also,  these  days  saw  the 
funeral  games  with  which,  then,  as  now,  Arabs  are  wont 

:  to  circle  round  the  grave  of  a  chief .^  Singularly  enough 
a  seven  days  lamentation  for  the  dead  still  obtains  in  the 
communiuies  east  of  th@  Jordan  and  of  Lebanon.  It 
is  observed   in   a  black    goat-hair  tent  set    up  on  tho 

-  threshing  floor,  which  lies  usually  on  the  west  side  of  a 
village,   the    corpse    being    laid    upon    the    thresher's 


»  Chap.  1.  7. 

2  1  Sam.  xxxi.  13.     Judith  xvi.  34.     Sir.  xxii.  12. 

■  This  is  implied  in  the  old  int<.'pretation,  as  in  Eorenmuller 
and  Clericus,  of  the  name  Beth  Hoglah,  given  by  St.  Jerome  to 
the  spot.  But  the  identification  is  very  doubtful.  The  name, 
*iaoreover,  seems  derived  not  from  the  dances  round  the  bier  or 
grave,  but  from  the  much  more  prosaic  fact,  that  the  partridge  is 
very  plenty  in  the  neighbourhood — Beth  Hoglah  seeming  really 
to  mean  "  the  place  of  partridges  "  {Rielim).  Riehm  thinks  it  was 
on  the  east  of  Jordan,  but  Winer  and  Kneuoker  think  the  writer 
speaks  from  the  direction  in  which  the  procession  was  advancing 
—towards  the  Jordan — so  that  Atad  would  be  on  this  side  of  it 


JOSEPH. 


499 


te   such 

t  of  the 

n  Gene- 

dy  to  its 

ustrious. 

in  their 

is  train; 

house  *' 

and  the 

ing  by  a 

reached 

Cactus  " 

rounds 

esoundcd 

eristic  of 

s  saw  the 

are  wont 

y  enough 

ins  in  the 

anon.     It 

p  on  the 

side  of  a 

bhresher's 


orenmuller 
,  Jerome  to 
The  name, 
the  bier  or 
)art,ridge  is 
ning  really 
inks  it  was 
:  the  writer 
advancing 
Bide  of  it 


wooden  standing  place  in  the  middle  of  the  floor.^  The 
narrative  seeras  to  imply  that  they  came,  not  by  the  direct 
road  by  El  Arish  and  Beersheba,  over  which  Jacob  and 
Abraham  had  ^^one  down  to  Egypt,  but  by  a  long  circuit 
round  the  south  of  the  Dead  Sea  and  through  the  land 
of  Moab  and  of  Ammon — the  track  along  which  his 
descendants  were  hereafter  to  reach  Canaan,  under 
Moses  and  Joshua.*  Bat  the  circuit  necessary  for  such  a 
journey  makes  it,  one  would  almost  think,  out  of  the 
question,  and  gives  great  weight  to  the  idea  that  Moses, 
writing  on  the  East  side  of  the  Jordan,  simply  means 
that  Atad  was  on  the  other,  without  stating  where. 
St.  Jerome  indeed  identifies  it  with  a  place  called  Beth 
Hoglp.h,  near  the  Jordan,  on  the  west  side  of  the  river, 
but  there  was  another  Beth  Hoglah  in  the  country  of  the 
Philistines,  which  is  much  more  likely  to  have  been  the 
spot.^  A  play  upon  another  name  given  by  tradition  to 
the  scene,  wherever  it  may  have  been,  marks,  however, 
the  deep  impression  made  by  the  incident  on  the  popular 
mind — for  henceforth  the  locality  bore  a  name  which 
equally  meant,  according  to  the  pronunciation — "  the 
meadow  "  or  "  the  lamentation  "  of  the  Egyptians.  The 
•  cave  of  Machpelah,  a  few  days  later,  received  the  new 
inmate,  and  there,  in  all  probability,  the  mummy  of  Jacob 
rests  still,  uncorrupted. 

Little  more  is  told  us  of  Joseph  except  that  he  bore 
himself  kindly  to  his  brethren  after  his  father's  death  ; 
that  he  lived  one  hundred  and  ten  years  and  saw  Ephraim's 
grandchildren,  and  tliat  he  took  the  sons  of  Machir,  the  sou 
of  Manasseh,  into  his  bosom — fondling  and  petting  them 
in  their  infancy:  a  tender  picture  of  the  loving-heartedness 
of  the  old  man,,  like  that  of  Homer,  when  the  nui'se  lays 

*  Biehm,  art.  Atad.  ^  Knohel,  p.  493. 

»  The  Land  and  The  Booh,  p.  580. 


500 


JOSEPH. 


the  new-born  Ulysses  on  tlie  knees  of  his  grandfather 
Autolycos.^  True  to  the  end  to  the  promise  handed  down 
from  his  fathers,  Joseph  disappears  from  our  view  leav- 
ing a  solemn  charge  to  his  brethren  to  carry  his  bones 
out  of  Egypt  with  them,  when  God  should  lead  them 
back  to  Canaan.  The  Egyptians  were  accustomed  to 
place  the  embalmed  bodies  of  their  friends  in  mummy 
cases  of  wood,  and  lay  them  up  safely  in  a  tomb,  or  keep 
tliem  in  a  special  chamber  in  their  own  houses.  Joseph's 
mummy  remained  thus  in  possession  of  the  Israelites  till 
the  Exodus,  and  was  then  taken  by  his  descendants  to 
Canaan,  as  he  had  made  their  forefathers  swear  to  do, 
and  laid  finally  at  rest  in  the  piece  of  ground  at  Shechem 
which  Jacob  had  long  before  bought.^  There,  to  this 
day,  his  tomb,  rightly  or  wrongly,  is  pointed  out  under' 
the  shadow  of  Mount  Ebal.^  "  If  this  is  the  real  tomb," 
says  my  late  worthy  friend,  Mr.  Mills, — "  and  there  is 
every  reason  to  believe  it  is — then,  underneath,  is  the 
sarcophagus,  and  even  the  mummy  of  Joseph,  just  as 
they  were  when  deposited  by  the  conquerors."  * 

*  Odyss.,  xix.  401.     See  also  Gen.  xxx.  3. 

.  •  Exod.  xiii.  19 ;  xxxiii.  19.     Josh.  xxiv.  32. 

*  The  Land  and  The  Booh,  p.  473.    Mills  (Nablus,  p.  64)  thinks  it 
IB  the  true  site.     See  also  Trans.  Soc.  Bib.  Arch.,  vol.  ii.  pp»  80-82. 

*  Mills'  Nahlus,  p.  66. 


INDEX. 


Abel,  etymology  of,  174 ;  legends  of 
death  of,  176. 

A-brabam's  idea  of  God  divinely  re- 
vealed, 23;  journey  to  Canaan, 
date  of,  83 ;  first  migration  of, 
295 ;  a  common  name  in  Assyria, 
299;  contemporary  of  Sargon  I., 
304;  the  subject  of  heavenly  guid- 
ance, 311 ;  tradition  of  persecution 
of,  by  Nimrod,  316  ;  call  of,  323  ; 
posterity  of,  alone,  of  Sarah's  de- 
scendants abandon  the  nomadic 
life,  324;  pursues  Chedorlaomer, 
326 ;  marries  Keturah,  326 ;  jour- 
ney from  Harran,  327  ;  the  friend 
of  God,  330;  Mahoramedannameof, 
El  Khalil,  "  the  friend,"  332 ;  creed 
of,  335 ;  character  of,  337  ;  rears 
an  altar  wherever  he  pitches  his 
tent,  338;  child-like  faith,  339; 
unique  position  of,  339 ;  promise 
to,  339 ;  at  Hebron,  340  ;  promise 
of  heir  to,  341 ;  vision  of,  342 ; 
name  of,  substituted  for  Abram, 
345;  brought  berore  Pharaoh,  360; 
second  residence  of,  in  Canaan, 
369  ;  and  Lot  separate,  370 ;  oak 
of,  372 ;  rescues  Lot,  379  ;  buys  a 
grave,  402-3 ;  death  of,  410 ;  cha- 
racter of,  410-11. 

Accad,  the  city  of,  273. 

Accadiau  language  allied  to  Tura- 
nian, 25 ;  eities,  in  Abraham's 
time,  26  ;  civilization,  27 ;  ideas  of 
the  heavens,  34. 

Accadians,  distinguished  astronomers 
B.C.  IGth  century,  27  ;  country  of, 
258  ;  laws  of,  269. 

Adah,  etymology  of,  180. 

Adam,  etymology  of  name,  88; 
Jewish  ideas  of,  91 ;  grave  of,  92  ; 
relie'  lus  belief  of ,  93-4;  death  of, 
James  Montgomery,  104 ;  Assyrian 
name  of,  221. 

Admah,  meaning  of,  377. 

African,  pure,  copper-coloured,  157 ; 
the  typical,  differs  from  the  negro, 
239. 

Alchemy  and  chemistry,  meaning  of, 
237. 


Alphabet,  introduction  of,  248. 

Altars  on  top  of  temples,  309. 

Amalekites  apparently  an  Arab  race, 
351. 

Amorites,  personal  appeai-ance  of, 
35^  u ;  described  by  Amos,  253 ; 
appearance  of,  350. 

Anaraim,  the,  245. 

Angel,  meaning  of,  222. 

Animal  worship  in  Egypt,  15 ;  Juve- 
nal on,  15. 

Animals,  gradual  disappearance  of, 
139 ;  tropical  remains  of,  in  Arctic 
regions,  142;  marine,  same  as  in 
drift  period,  160. 

Antediluvians,  age  of,  184. 

Antipodes,  Augustine  denies  there 
can  be,  36. 

Antiquity  of  man,  theories  on,  132. 

Ape,  man's  descent  from,  theory  of, 
162. 

Aphobis,  proverbs  of,  2. 

Arab  camp,  migration  of,  description 
of,  by  Layard,  368 ;  courtesy, 
411  w ;  race,  the,  412 ;  ancient  de- 
scription of,  418. 

Aram,  261 ;  meaning  of  word,  262 ; 
sons  of,  262. 

Ararat,  meaning  of,  208  ;  description 
of,  209. 

Arctic  expedition,  German,  1869  and 
1870,  145;  regions,  possibility  of 
existence  of  large  mammals  in,  142. 

Ark,  dimensions  of,  191 ;  built  in 
Holland,  208 ;  shape  of,  207. 

Arkites,  the,  255. 

Armenians  and  Georgians  descended 
from  Gomer,  232. 

Arphaxad,  260  ;  meaning  of,  294. 

Arrow-headed  writing,  invented  by 
Accadians,  26. 

Arts,  ancient  Chaldean,  301. 

Aryan  race,  24-5;  tribes,  descent 
of,  from  table-lands  of  Asia,  149. 

Ashkenaz,  232. 

Asia,  Western,  idolatry  of,  14;  the 
mother  of  nations,  270. 

Askalon,  trade  of,  355. 

Asses  numerous  in  Egypt,  365  ;  sac- 
rificed to  Set,  365. 


601 


502 


INDEX. 


Asshur,  257. 

Assur,  the  god,  258. 

Assyria,  ancient  limits  of,  258. 

Assyrian  legends,  creation  of  man  iu, 
95 ;  library,  3. 

Australia,  the  oldest  land  on  the 
globe,  215;  all  quadrupeds  mar- 
supial, 215. 

Baal,  worship  of,  carried  from  Pales- 
tine to  Egypt,  347. 

Babel,  Bunscn  on  confusion  of  lan- 
guages, 282 ;  tower  of,  Assyrian 
legend  of,  278,  283-4;  western 
legends  of,  284-5  ;  Jewish,  28G-8  ; 
Egyptian,  288-90;  height  of,  290; 
derivation  of  word,  291. 

Babylon,  ear)y  kings  of,  date  of,  26  ; 
etymology  r>f.  28 ;  invaded  by  Ela- 
mite  king,  373 ;  no  stone  for  build- 
ing in,  273. 

Babylonia,  antiquity  of  earliest  ruins 
iu,  27. 

Babylonian  history,  date  of,  153. 

Bara,  meiining  of  word,  18. 

Bdellium  of  Havilah  supposed  to  be 
pearls,  110. 

Bolus,  temple  of,  2/5  ;  described  by 
Strabo,  270;  robbed  by  Xerxes, 
276. 

Beui  Hassan,  picture  from  tombs  of, 
361-2. 

Benjamin  born,  443. 

Berosus,  chronology  of,  86. 

Bible,  Jewish  divisions  of,  3 ;  har- 
mony of,  throughout,  4 ;  evidence 
of  its  Divine  origin,  17 ;  is  not  a 
series  of  scientific  disclosures,  40. 

Birds  and  quadrupeds,  first  appear- 
ance of,  78. 

Birs  Nimrud,  274. 

Bitumen  used  for  mortar,  275 ;  use 
of,  in  building,  298-9. 

Black  death  in  14th  century,  145. 

Blood  not  eaten,  225 ;  forbidden  by 
the  apostles  to  be  eaten,  225. 

Book,  oldest  extant,  2. 

Bt)rsippa,  temple  of,  restored  by 
Nebuchadnezzar,  277- 

Bothnia,  Gulf  of,  rise  of  land  in, 
141. 

Brick,  Greek  and  modern,  found  in 
the  Delta  mud,  152-3. 

Oair  etymology  of,  173;  sign  on, 
1//  ;  city  of,  Macaulay's  descrip- 
tion of,  178. 


Calvin  maintains  that  the  earth  ia 
the  centre  of  our  system,  38. 

Canaan,  races  of,  238 ;  son  of  Ham, 
2 19 ;  the  language  of,  259 ;  peo- 
pled by  many  races,  348. 

Canaanite,  meaning  oi,  249,  354. 

Caphtorim,  the,  247. 

Carnival,  yearly,  Egyptian,  464. 

Casluhira,  246^ 

Cat  trained  to  hunt,  68,  360. 

Cattle  in  Egypt,  364. 

Cave  men,  description  of,  376  n. 

Chaldea,  dress  in,  301 ;  irrigation  of, 
303;  present  feitility  of,  303-4; 
fruit  trees  of,  303. 

Chariots  and  bows  used  in  war,  351. 
■  Charms  and  talismans,  310. 

Chfcdorlaomer,  374. 

Cherubim,  172. 

China,  date  of  historical  period  in, 
149. 

Chronology,  Biblical,  vai'ious  ideas 
on,  86-7;  Pjgyptian,  in  hopeless 
coufusi(m,  156. 

Chronological  reckonings,  difference 
in,  84. 

Ciiiibri,  the,  same  as  Celts,  230. 

Circumcision,  signification  of,  344, 
349. 

Cities  walled  up  to  heaven,  253. 

Civilization,  Accadian,  296  ;  Acca- 
dian,  in  Abraham's  day,  300; 
Indian,  date  of,  154. 

Clay  tablets  of  Babylon,  41. 

Climate,  coal-forming  ages,  76; 
changes  of,  210 ;  variations  of, 
346. 
.Coal,  the  period  of,  76  ;  beds,  length 
of  time  to  form,  77  ;  mass  of  vege- 
table matter  required  to  form,  87. 

Coat  of  many  colours,  448. 

Cocks  and  hens  offered  to  Annbis, 
366. 

Coffins,  gilded,  Egyptian,  367. 

Coined  money,  first,  438. 

Colet,  Dean,  narrative  of  creation, 
48 ;  on  the  elements,  49. 

Colour,  no  index  of  race,  239. 

Compass,  points  of,  among  Arabs, 
212  ;  in  middle  ages,  242. 

Confusion  of  tongues,  possibly  gra- 
dual, 283. 

Connemara,  famine  in,  1847,  changed 
the  physical  type,  157. 

Coperuican  theory  of  universe, 
earlier  discoveries  helped  to  lead 
to,  41. 


INDEX. 


603 


Oopernious,  theory  of  the  heavens, 
41. 

Coralline  found  in  Laurentian  gneiss, 
73. 

Coi'n  in  mummies  and  lake  dwellings, 
1G8  ;  if  nol-.  cultivated  becomes  ex- 
tinct, IGO ;  antiquity  of  culture  of, 
179 ;  plants,  characteristics  of,  168. 

Corpses,  caravans  of,  at  Warka,  273. 

Cosmas,  map  of  the  world  by,  112. 

Cosmogony  of  Zoroaster,  42. 

Covenant,  ratification  of,  by  burning 
lamp,  341. 

Create,  meaning  of  Hebrew  word 
translated  create  in  A.  V.,  18. 

Creation,  ancient  ideas  of,  17 ;  con- 
trast  of  the  Mosaic  account  of, 
with  others,  17, 21 ;  ancient  legends 
of,  24;  Assyrian  legends  of,  29; 
bow  handed  down,  29;  Accadian 
account  of,  29-30 ;  geological  ideas 
on,  in  essays  and  reviews,  42; 
Zoroaster  on,  42 ;  statement  of 
Bible  not  designed  to  be  scientific, 
45  ;  Dr.  McCaul's  account  of,  46  ; 
and  modern  science.  Dr.  McCaul 
on,  47 ;  Bunsen  on,  49 ;  delivery  of, 
to  Hebrews,  59 ;  o£  world,  distinct 
from  that  of  man,  70 ;  of  man, 
date  of,  85  ;  account  of,  by  Caad- 
mon,  97-105 ;  to  the  Flood,  ten 
generations,  185. 

Crimea,  corruption  of  Cymry,  230. 

Crown,  ancient  Egyptian,  now  at 
Leyden,  367. 

Cash,  country  of,  238 ;  race  of,  270. 

Cushite,  stem,  rtices  sprung  from, 
240 ;  language,  271. 

Cusliites  belonged  to  Caucasian  race, 
239. 

Days,  six,  length  of,  Hugh  Miller  on, 
43. 

Dead,  burial  of,  in  Chaldea,  300. 

Dead  Sea,  description  of,  386-7. 

Dedau,  243,      • 

Deluge,  Assyrian  traditions  of,  190 ; 
description  of,  192-7  ;  tablets,  age 
of,  192 ;  traditions  of  among  the 
Cree  Indians,  204 ;  paintings  of, 
in  Mexico,  204 ;  date  of,  206 ;  the 
extent  of,  210;  Dr.  Halley's  theory 
of,  212;  Winston's  ditto,  213  ;  not 
universal,  214 ;  extent  of,  216. 

Delta  of  Euphrates,  growth  of,  115. 

Demons,  belief  in,  in  Abraham's  day, 
310. 


Desert,  flowers  of  the,  318. 
Dhourra  used  for  bread,  475  n. 
Diana,  temple  of,  at  Epliesus,  134. 
Divining  bowls,  492-3. 
Dogs  trained  to  hunt,  360. 
Dreams,  importance  attached  to,  by 

Egyptians,  462-3. 
Dress  of  Egyptians,  359. 
Dwellings,  earliest   Chaldean,   299, 

300. 
Dye,    Tyrlan    purple,    where     else 

found,  234. 


Earth,  formation  of,  from  nebulous 
matter,  71 ;  geological  view  of  first 
state  of,  72 ;  shape  of,  curious  ideas 
concerning.  111 ;  Burnet's  theory 
of,  212  ;  word,  meaning  of  in  Scrip- 
ture, 219. 

Earthquakes  not  unknown,  343. 

Ebor,  etymology  of,  264. 

Eclipses,  first  observations  of,  298  n. 

Eden,  locality  of,  106-109 ;  descrip- 
tion of,  from  the  book  of  Enoch, 
107. 

Edessa,  in  Roman  times  the  centre  of 
Christianity,  322. 

Egypt,  numerous  gods  of,  15,  16 ; 
great  wall  of,  across  the  isthmus  of 
Suez,  357;  in  Abraham's  day, 
359 ;  silver  mines  of,  366 ;  trade  of, 
with  Canaan,  484;  spies  in,  com- 
mon, 484. 

Egyptian  ladies,  459  ;  cupbearer  and 
baker,  462 ;  garden,  description 
of,  486  ;  house,  furniture  of,  487  ; 
house,  numerous  attendants  of, 
487-8 ;  priests,  learning  of,  68 ; 
towns,  names  of,  sacred  and  pro- 
fane, 246  ;  baking,  picture  of,  4G6. 

Egyptians,  of  Caucasian  race,  244 ; 
despised  qther  races,  245  ;  abhorred 
sea-fish,  217> 

Elamites,  language  of,  257. 

Elephant,  formerly  found  in  Western 
Asia,  143. 

Elohim,  meaning  of,  10;  etymology 
of,  11. 

Elysium  of  Egyptians,  471. 

Emesa,  famous  for  its  temple  of  the 
Sun,  328. 

Emim,  the  name,  375  n. 

Enoch,  meaning  of,  180 ;  introducef 
public  worship,  183. 

Ephraim  and  Manasseh  born,  483. 

Erech,  the  Warka  of  to-day,  273. 


i  I 


504 


INDEX. 


Esau,  character  of,  419;  meeting 
with  Jacobi  435. 

Eskimo  driven  to  the  Arctic  regioris 
by  feuds,  1G5. 

Euphrates,  etymology  of,  108 ;  rise 
of,  302. 

Eve,  the  Phenician,  42  ;  etymology 
of  the  name,  88  ;  taught  by  Ga- 
briel, 179;  Assyrian  name  of, 
221. 

Extinct  quadrupeds,  human  bones 
found  with  those  of,  139. 


Fall  of  man,  strange  legends  of,  119; 
Assyrian  legend  of  the,  122  ;  Bible 
account  of,  and  heathen  traditions, 
126;  Greek  notions  of,  compared 
with  the  Bible,  128. 

Famines  in  Egypt,  473-4. 

Father  of  the  faithful,  Abraham  as 
the,  332. 

Fauna  of  Australin .  215. 

Fire,  origin  of,  c  .ious  middle- age 
ideas  of,  96. 

Fish-god  in  Babylon,  202 ;  worship 
unknown  in  India,  201. 

Fisheries  of  the  Delta,  248. 

Flaming  sword,  Assyrian  legend  of, 
124-5. 

Flood,  Deucalion's,  145 ;  Indian  tra- 
dition of,  202. 

Flora  of  the  world  could  not  survive 
a  year's  submersion,  216. 

Fossils,  chronology  of,  79. 

Four  winds,  only,  known  to  Egyptians, 
469. 

Gdileo,  38. 

Genealogical  table  in  Genesis,  cor- 
rect, 257. 

Genesis,  meaning  of  word,  1 ;  author- 
ship of,  2,  8, 9  ;  antiquity  of,  2 ;  de- 
sign of,  3  ;  contents  of,  5. 

Geogiapliy,  notions  of,  in  antiquity, 
238. 

Geologicjvl  life,  development  of,  44- 
46;  antiquity  of,  Agassiz  on,  46; 
St.  George  Mivart  on,  50 ;  Green 
on,  148. 

Gether,  locality  of,  263. 

Giants,  antediluvian,  187. 

Gibeonites,  the,  254. 

Gifts  to  Abraham,  364. 

Gihon,  different  ideas  about,  111; 
etymology  of,  114. 

Girgashites,  254. 


Glacial  period,  climate  ot  Europe 
since,  140. 

Globe,  primitive,  covered  with  water, 
48. 

God,  Mosaic  conception  of,  20 ;  know- 
ledge of,  among  Canaanitcs,  28 ; 
worshipped  as  Jehovah,  183; 
human  attributes  ascribed  to,  221. 

Gods  of  Egypt,  482. 

Gog,  232. 

Gomer,  eons  of,  231. 

Gomorrah,  377- 

Goph'^r  wood,  223. 

Greeks  borrowed  their  alphabet  from 
the  Phenifiians,  83 ;  expelled  f "om 
cities  on  the  Euxine,  became  bii,r- 
barous,  164. 

Greenland,  exst  coast  inhabited  Li 
14th  centu:'y,  145 

Guadalquiver^  nam  ,  235. 


Ham,    nations   sprung   from,    22F>| 

meaning  of,  237. 
Haman  hanged,  352. 
Hamath,  son  of  Caanan,  255. 
Harran,  322. 
Havilah,  114,  241. 
Hebrew,  the  name,  origin  of,  294 ; 

Scriptui'es,  Fichte  on,  129. 
Hebrews,    free    constitution    of,    in 

earliest  ages,  8 ;    seasons  of  the, 

224;  ancient   peoples    related  to, 

292 ;   original  seat  of,    293 ;    the 

descent  of,  to  Egypt,  416. 
Hebron,    nicBqxe  at,  over    cave    of 

Machpelab,  404. 
Herod,  the  great  hunting-ground  of, 

263. 
Herodotus,  and  Nehemiah   ^^outem• 

porary,  5 ;   reckons    Egypt    as    in 

Asia,  238. 
Hieroglyphic  alphabet  of  the  Acca- 

dians,  268. 
High  places  universal,  223. 
Hittites,  wars  of,  against  Rameses  II., 

252,  353. 
Hivites,  the,  254 ;  354. 
Holland  and    Low    Countries,  how 

formed,  136. 
Holy  water  among  Accadians,  310. 
Hooghly,    changes    in    borders    of, 

152. 
Horses,  when  tamed  and  used,  132 ; 

introduction  of,  to  Egypt,  359  n. 
Houses  in  Babylonia,  274, 
Huleh,  the  district,  263. 


e  of   Europ« 

ed  with  water, 

of,  20 ;  know- 
anaauitcs,  28 ; 
sbovah,  183; 
iribedto,  221. 


alphabet  from 
expelled  f^oin 
B,  became  bar- 
it  inhabited  Li 
135.        • 

ig   from,    22f>| 

an,  255. 

l)rigin  of,  294; 
on,  129. 

titution  of,  in 
seasons  of  the, 
Dies  related  to, 
;  of,  293;  the 
Dt,  446. 
,  over    cave    of 

iting-grcund  of, 

lemiah   ooutein- 
3    Egypt    as   ill 

et  of  the  Acca- 

1, 223. 

nst  Barneses  II., 

)4. 
Countries,  how 

Lccadians,  310. 
in    borders    of, 

.  and  used,  132 ; 
I  Egypt,  359  n. 
.  274. 
263. 


INDEX. 


505 


Human  race,  varities  of,  no  proof  of 
antiquity  of  man,  156 ;  created  by 
itself,  IG3  ;  Human  saoritices,  Ac- 
cadian,  3(K);  antiquity  of,  391; 
not  sanctioned  by  God,  400 ; 
among  the  Greeks,  401. 

Iluvonian  and  Cambrian  periods, 
depth  of  rocks,  74. 

Hymns,  religious,  Accadian,  306. 

Icebergs,  size  of  some,  211. 

Idolatry,  Accadian,  iu  Abraham's 
day,  308;  Babylonian,  rise  of, 
804-5  ;  Babylonian,  307  ;  Egyptian, 
16. 

Immortality,  belief  of,  in  the  race  of 
Seth,  184. 

Inundation,  depth  of,  in  Egypt, 
471. 

Irad,  etymology  of,  180. 

Isaac,  sacrifice  of,  when  ofTored, 
398-9 ;  and  bis  sons,  412  ;  charac- 
ter of,  414  ;  l)uri  il  of,  444. 

Islimael  born,  383;  and  Hagar  sent 
away,  385 ;  from,  tribes  sprung, 
412  ;  and  Hagar,  dismissal  of,  4l4; 
character  of,  415-6;  age  when 
Abraham  died,  416. 

Ishmaelites,  the,  spread  from  the  Red 
Sea  to  the  Euphrates,  417. 

Ishtar,  tower-temple  of,  ruins  of, 
320. 

Israel  sprung  from  Shem,  228. 

Jacob,  character  of,  418,  420 ;  angel 
wrestling  with,  421 ;  secures  the 
birthright,  424 ;  dream  at  Bethel, 
425 ;  double  marriage  of,  430 ; 
flight  to  Canaan,  432 ;  at  Mahanaim, 
435 ;  name  changed  to  Israel,  435  ; 
and  Esau  meet,  437 ;  well  of,  439 
and  n  ;  at  Bethel,  442 ;  descent  of, 
to  Egypt,  494;  buried  at  Mach- 
pelah,  497;  body  embalmed,  497; 
body  taken  to  Canaan,  497. 

Japheth,  descendp.nts  of,  256. 

Javan,  233. 

Jean  Paul,  on  Bibh  account  of 
creation,  12. 

Jebus,  meaning  of,  252 

Jebusites,  the,  252  -3. 

Jewish  civilization,  peculiarities  of, 
12 ;  mind,  the,  and  religion,  13 ; 
ideas  of  creation,  56-59. 

Jews  400  years  in  Egypt,  52 ;  of 
East,  black,  156 ;  intermairiuge 
with  Canaanites  forbidden,  25 1. 


Job,  land  of,  locality  of,  262. 

Jordan,  description  of,  389. 

Joseph,  birth  of,  431 ;  sold,  449 ; 
story  of,  448;  prison,  picture  of, 
461 ;  interprets  Pbamoh'rt  dream, 
477 ;  a  now  name  given  to,  478 ; 
marries  Asenath,  480;  hrouclit  to 
Egypt,  481 ;  divining  bowl  of,  lUO- 
1 ;  at  Goshen,  495  ;  body  carried 
to  Canaan,  500  ;  age  of,  500  ;  tomb, 
500. 

Jubal,  181 ;  etymology  of,  181. 

Keturah,  410. 

Kings  ruled  by  the  priests,  465. 
Kiriath  Sepher,  or  Book-town,  350. 
Kittim,  or  Chittim,  236. 

Lake  formed  in  China  in  14th  con. 
tury,  IM). 

Lamech,  180,  182. 

Land,  rise  of,  recent,  in  South 
America,  217. 

Language  of  ancient  Clialdea.  300  a  ; 
original  unity  of,  281  u.  2,  282  ;  as 
evidence  of  human  antiquity.  154; 
the  rise  of  new  forms  of,  1^5. 

Languages,  Turanian,  25 ;  Semitic, 
25  ;  derived  from  Latin,  282  ;  cor- 
ruption of,  154. 

Latin,  languages  derived  from,  155. 

Lanrentian  rocks,  life  discovered  in, 
44. 

Legend,  Assyrian,  of  the  destruction 
of  Sodom  &,nd  Gomorrah,  392. 

Lehabim,  the  Libyans,  215-6. 

Leprosy,  plague,  and  famine,  348. 

Liberty,  Bible  idea  of,  8. 

Libraries,  Accadian,  296. 

Life,  animal,  geological  arrange- 
ment of,  78;  for  life,  226;  the 
sanctity  of,  226. 

Light  on  the  fourth  day,  Godet  and 
tJmbreit  on,  43. 

Limestone,  formation  of,  80. 

Linen,  Egyptian,  477-8. 

Lion  trained  to  hunt,  68. 

Locusts,  visitations  of,  318. 

^  ?^  taken  prisoner,  375. 

Lud,  261. 

Machpelah ,  cave  of ,  403. 
Madai,  the,  233. 
Magog,  232. 

Magyars  of  Hungary  originally  Tar- 
tars, 157 ;  and  Finns  related,  2C??', 
Mahanaim,  435. 


606 


INDEX. 


Mammalia  on  banka  of  Dead  Sea, 
388. 

Maniinjils  of  EuropoandN.  America 
first  known,  50,  51. 

Man,  Uible  doctrino  of  his  dignity,  6, 
15 ;  alone  erect,  looking  upwards, 
69 ;  stature  of,  rabliis'  ideas  of,  89  ; 
ori<,'iiial  beauty  of,  traditions  of,  90 ; 
first  had  wings,  according  to  Tibe- 
tan legend,  IIU;  descent  of,  from 
animals,  132;  antiquity  of,  in 
Europe,  141 ;  pre-glacial,  149 ; 
otymologv  of,  222. 

Mankind,  Egyptian  division  of,  289. 

Man's  descent,  Darwin's  theory  of, 
159. 

Map  of  heaven  and  earth,  by  Cosraas, 
113. 

Maps,  effects  of  use  of  compass  on, 
242. 

Marriage,intertribal,  desired  by  patri- 
archs, 405,  423 ;  settlements  in  the 
East,  408 ;  laws  in  Egypt,  458. 

Mehujaol,  etymology  of,  180. 

Melcliizedek,  381 ;  the  first  called 
priest  in  Scripture,  383. 

Men,  equality  of  all,  before  God,  8. 

Menes,  date  of  reign  of,  150. 

Merodach,  temple  of,  274. 

Mesopotamia,  earliest  inhabitants 
of,  208. 

Metals,  notions  about  discovery  of, 
97  ;  discovery  of,  135. 

Methusnel,  etymology  of,  180. 

Methuselah,  age  of,  184." 

Migration,  the,  of  Abraham,  312. 

Milk  oiFered  to  Orisis,  305. 

Mines,  of  Miilian  worked  by  stone 
tools,  138 ;  Tarshish,  235 ;  of  Sinai, 

867.  .         . 

Miocene  period,  climate  during,  140; 

climate  of  Spitzbergen  during,  140 ; 

causes  of  greater  heat  during,  140. 
Mississippi,  changes  in,  152. 
Mizi-aiin,  the   name,   229;    race  of, 

238 ;  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt,  241 ; 

second    son    of  Ham,  241;  races 

traced  to,  245. 
Monotheism  among  the  Jews,    13; 

outside  the   Bible,  17 ;  fidelity  of 

Hebrews  to,  22  ;   Semitic  peoples 

not  all  faithful  to,  22;  origin  of 

knowledge  of,  among  the  Jews, 

23 ;  Abraham's,  336. 
Moon,  worship  of,  299;  hymn  to, 

306. 
Moreh,  meanings  of  the  word,  356. 


Moses   proclaims  war   on    Amalok. 

352. 
Mountains,  chain  of,  disappears,  146 1 

in  Pliocene  ago,  217. 
Mourning,  Egyptian,  497. 
Mngheir,  remains  of,  296. 
Miiller,  Max,  quoted,  22. 

Nahor,  town  of,  816 ;  dwellings  at, 
the  same  as  on  Assyrian  slabs, 
318. 

Naphtuchim  and  Pathrusim,  246. 

National  histoi-y,  first  glimpses  of, 
207. 

Nations,  lapse  into  lower  cl^lture, 
105;  table  of,  Gen.  x.,  £29;  table 
of,  244  ;  descended  frori  Ham,  250. 

Nature,  Aryan  conception  of,  14; 
primitive  conceptions  of,  16 ;  wor- 
ship instinctive  in  siraple  races, 
17 ;  Jowisli  ideas  of,  52 ;  a  revela- 
tion of  God,  39;  Accadian  ideas 
of,  54 ;  convulsions  of,  before  the 
Black  Death,  145. 

Negro  changed  by  climate,  157. 

Nchemiah,  date  of,  5. 

Niagara,  worship  of,  by  an  Indian,  17. 

Nicholson,  Prof.  AUeyne,  table  of 
geological  life,  49. 

Night  in  Palestine,  why  cold,  432. 

Nile,  rise  and  subsidence  of,  472  n. 

Nirarod,  243 ;  etymology  of,  272  ; 
name,  greatness  of,  272;  empire 
of,  siege  of,  279 ;  a  mighty  hunter, 
280. 

Nineveh,  258. 

Noah,  sacrifice  of,  224;  curses  Ham, 
227. 

Normans  adopted  French  language, 
239. 

North,  the  left,  among  Arabs,  242 ; 
Cape,  rise  of  laud,  144. 

Observatory,  Accadian,  298. 

Oorfa,  importance  of,  in  Abraham's 

time,  317 ;  climate  of,  817. 
Ophir,  in  South  Arabia,  236. 
Osiris  and  Isis,  worship  of,  470. 

Fadan  Aram,  priests  of,  in  Abraham's 

day,  322. 
Palace,  Egyptian,  489. 
Palestine,  the  El  Domdo  of    Arab 

races,  324 ;   f ruitfulness  of,  340 ; 

the    centre  of  the  ancient  world, 

346  ;  ancient  productions  of,  347  ; 

original  inhabitants  of,  349. 


INDEX. 


507 


Amalok* 
Bars,  146 1 


lUings  at, 
ian  slabs, 

a,  246. 
oapses  of, 

cxilture, 
,29;  table 
Ham,  256. 
n  of,  14; 
16;  wor- 
ple  races, 
1  a  reyela- 
iian  ideas 
before  the 

,157. 

[ndian,  17. 
table  of 

old,  432. 
af ,  472  n. 
^  of,  272  ; 
'2 ;  empire 
ity  hunter. 


irses  Ham, 
i  language, 
^rabs,  242 ; 


58. 

Abraham's 

H7. 

236. 

)f,  470. 

L  Abraham's 


o  of  Arab 
ss  of,  3 16  ; 
jient.  world, 
jns  of,  347 ; 
,  3i9. 


Palm,  the,  variona  uses  of,  804. 

Palms,  petritied,  at  Dead  Sea,  388  n. 

PapvniB,  found  now  only  south  of 
Nubia,  218. 

Paradidi',  site  of,  unknown,  223  ;  resi- 
dences of  Poraian  kings  called, 
115. 

Parents,  first,  tradition  of  knowledge 

of,  yi. 

Pathrusim,  246. 

Patriarchs  exercised  the  power  of  life 
and  death,  433. 

Pcleg's  settlement,  locality  of,  264. 

Pentateuch,  meaning  of  word,  8. 

People,  the,  recoguised  in  Genesis, 
0 ;  not  recognised  in  antiquity,  7- 

Perizzites,  353. 

Porsia,  before  Cyrua,  257- 

Personality,  definition  of,  20. 

Petroleum,  probable  animal  origin 
of,  80. 

Phavaoh,  takes  Sarah  into  his  harem, 
303;  meaning  of,  303  7i;  court  of, 
452;  birthday  of,  festivity,  408; 
dreams  of,  468-9 ;  the,  must  ho  a 
priest,  476 ;  of  Joseph's  time,  one 
of  the  Shepherd  Kings,  480  j  cattle 
of,  496. 

Phenician,  tradition  of  first  city, 
186;  farmers,  248;  weaving:  of, 
249 ;  race,  descent  of,  from  Ilam, 
250  ;  original  seat  of  race,  271. 

Philistines,  origin  of  the,  247  ;  allied 
to  Phenicians,  355 ;  warlike,  356  n. 

Phut,  race  of,  238. 

Physical  science,  ideas  of,  2nd  cen- 
tury B. ".,  54. 

Pigeons,  all  varieties  traced  to  stock- 
dove, 158. 

Pilgrim  Fathers,  ancient,  330. 

Pison,  the  broad-flowing,  114. 

Plants  first  appear,  76;  sweet- 
smelling,  first  appearance  of,  130 ; 
present  Alpine,  same  as  drift  flora, 
160. 

I'oles,  the,  theories  respecting  tem- 
perature of,  141. 

Polygamy  begins,  180 ;  permitted  to 
Israel,  180. 

Potiphar,  the  name,  452. 

Priests  attached  to  the  palace,  472. 

Printing  almost  discovered  in  anti- 
quity, 41. 

Prometheus  brings  fire  to  man,  126. 

Punt,  meaning  of,  249 ;  people  of,  249. 

Pyramid,  Great,  size  of,  shows  early 
civilization,  167. 


Pyramids    ancient 
day,  358. 


in     Abmlnim'i 


Rabbinical  year  in  use   amon^'  the 

Jews,  83. 
Race,  human,  unity  of,  230;  cl  an,'e 

in  the  outward  appeaninco  oi,  1.j7. 
Rachel,  meets  Jacob,  428;  death  of, 

4i2-3. 
Rainbow,  as  a  Divine  sign,  198  ;  as  a 

sign,  226 ;   heathen    allusions    to, 

226  ;  Scandinavian  legend  r 

ing,  227. 
Rain- drops,  ancient,  on  sea  beafli,  82. 
Ri'b(?kah,  mission  to  Mesopotami;i  for, 

406 ;  betrothal  of,  409 :  charact  i-r  of, 

413  ;  nurse  of,  Deboran,  dies,  4-12. 
Refaim,  250. 
Reindeer,  in   France,   139;   present 

range  of,  1^10. 
Religion  of  the  Amorites,  351. 
Representations  of   God   forbidden, 

223. 
Rosuri'ection    of  the  dead  held  by 

Act-adiaiis,  310. 
Rhinoceros,  body  of,   found  in   Si- 
beria, 142. 
Riphatos  mountains,  232. 
Rivers,  Jewish  ideas  of,  58  ;  beds  of, 

shifting  of,  134 ;  cut  through  beds 

of  basalt,  235. 
Rocks,  conglomerate,  formation  of, 

77  ;  wearing  away  of,  79. 
Rodanim,  the  island  of  Rhodes,  237. 
Rosh,  the  modern  Russians,  23-j. 
Running  footmen,  Egyptian,  451. 
Russia,  possible  rise  of  land,  144. 


Sabtah,  241. 

Sacrifice,  idea  in,  400. 

Salah,  etymology  of,  264. 

Salt,  trade  in,   247;    mountain   of, 

at  Gebel  Usdum,  387;  taking  with 

Arabs,    a    pledge    of    friendship, 

434. 
Sandstone,  Old  Red,  denudations  of, 

in  Scotland,  81. 
Sanscrit,  languages  derived  from,  154. 
Sarah  and  Sarai,  meaning  of  words, 

328;   substituted  for  Sarai,  345; 

dies,  401. 
Sargon  I.,  28 ;  date  of  reign  of,  305 ; 

reign  of,  312. 
Saturn,  theory  of  formation  of,  71. 
Science  and  Scripture,  relations  of, 

39. 


608 


INDEX. 


Bcjt»ntifio  errort  made  to  tapport 
Biblo  interpretation,  n,  8/  38  j 
cUacoveries  Knuluii),  41. 

Scribe,  figure  of,  in  Louvre,  346. 

Scripture,  accuracy  of,  2\7. 

Scythians,  the  inust  aiiciiMit  of  nion, 
2C7 ;  what  peopk>8  descended  fri  >ni , 
207. 

Seal,  royal,  ancient  Chaldean,  301. 

Seba,  men  of,  240. 

Semitic,  nations,  some  heathen,  22 ; 
lanfsfuage,  antiquity  of,  25  ;  racr, 
firnt  appearance  in  Babylonia,  date 
of,  27 1  meaning  of  term,  2U3. 

Soptuagint,  date  of,  1. 

Serapis  Temple,  near  Naples,  shows 
rise  and  fall  of  laud,  1(>2. 

Serprnt,  traditions  of  Zoroaster  of, 
118 ;  crushing  tlio  head  of,  tra- 
ditions of.  Hi);  on  Roman  sculp- 
tures, 120;  on  Babylonian  cylin- 
der, 121. 

Seth,  etymology  of,  182. 

Seventh  day,  Accadians  honoured, 
309. 

Sheba,  Queen  of,  2-11 ;  home  of  the 
Saboeans,  211. 

Shechem,  Abraham  at,  329. 

Sheep,  different  breeds  of,  from  same 
stock,  158. 

Shells  raised  above  the  sea  level,  217- 

Shem,  descendants  of,  229. 

Shepherds'  refuge  tower,  picture  of, 
444. 

Skulls,  oldest  found,  show  no  trace 
of  inferiority,  IGO. 

Silver,  the  only  coin  till  David, 
438  n. 

Sippara,  Book-town,  321. 

Sites  of  cities  of  the  plain,  386. 

Six  days,  Hugh  Miller  on,  43  ;  work 
of  the,  Beusch  on  the,  43. 

Slaves,  price  of  Egyptian,  450. 

Sodom,  377. 

S.idora  and  Gomorrah,  destruction 
of,  393. 

Son = descendant,  189. 

Sms  of  God,  188;  Bible  use  of 
word,  229. 

Soul,  immortality  of,  310. 

South  called  by  Arabs  the  right,  242. 

Species,  no  forms  to  indicate  fusion 
of,  161. 

Spices,  great  trade  in,  with  Egypt, 
450. 

Spirits,  evil,  supposed  to  lie  in  wait 
for  men,  186. 


Spitzber^en,  forests  of,  in  gfeological 

times,  140. 
Stalagmite,  rate  of  deposit  of,  138 ; 

copper  plate.s  found  in,  133  ;  thirty 

feet  thick,  l,*i3. 
State  police,  Egyptian,  their  duties, 

453. 
Stone  age,  uge  of,  134;  lateness  of , 

in  Italy,  136; 
Stone  tools,  on  bas  reliefs  in  Esrypt, 

138 ;  implements,  how  old,  132  ;  no 

test  of  antiquity  of  man,  164 ;  knives 

and  weapons,  Arab,  139  ;  weapons 

found inllolliud,  135;  weapons, 1 36. 
Subsidence  of  laud  in  Indian  Ocean, 

218. 
Sum,  gates  for  his  risinfir  and  setting, 

Accadiaii   idea  of,    34 ;    the,    the 

centr.'  of  our  systora  (?),  38  ;  dials, 

Accadian,  301. 

Tablets,  Chaldean,  concerning  De- 
luge, 190. 

Tarshish,  a  port  in  Spain,  235;  fii- 
mous  for  corn,  235  ;  ships  of,  2.'i(J.  • 

Task  masters  and  )verseers,Egyptiiin, 
455. 

Tatooing  the  sij  i  of  God  on  the 
brow,  844. 

Taxes  in  Turkey,  oiJgypt,  etc  ,  483  n. 

Temple,  Accadian,  at  Ur,  298. 

Teran,  family  of,  meaning  of  names 
of,  294;  idolatry  of,  tradition  re- 
spectiiig,  313. 

Teraphim,  Laban's,  433,  441. 

Terra  del  Fuego,  166. 

Testament,  Old,  object  of,  7. 

Thorns  and  thistles,  129. 

Tiberias  destroyed  by  earthquake  in 
1837,  392. 

Tibet,  mining  in,  268. 

Tigers,  Bengal,  found  very  far  north, 
143. 

Tigris,  meaning  of  word,  108. 

Titles  of  the  king's  officials,  454. 

Tombs,  Accadian,  269.  ' 

Tongues,  confusion  of,  280. 

Towers,  sacred,  Accadian,  298-9. 

Tree  of  life,  traditions  of,  116 ;  of 
knowledge,  Assyrian  and  Babylo- 
nian legends  of,  117 ;  of  life, 
Aryans  thought  it  the  Soma  tree, 
117  ;  of  life,  172. 

Trees  in  Senegal,  great  age  of,  214; 
in  Mexico,  great  age  of ,  214;  de- 
struction of,  II  ade  south  of  Pales- 
tine deseit,  377. 


TEXTS. 


509 


goologicul 

it  of,  138; 
$3;  thirty 

iir  dutiei, 

bteneas  of, 

in  Evypt, 
il,  lii2  ;  no 
G4 ;  knivee 
;  weapons 
iiponfl,136. 
Ian  Ocean, 

id  setting, 

the,   the 

38;  diald, 

ming  Do- 

,  285;  fa. 

)s  of.  2;'.().  • 

Egyptian, 
d  on  the 

c  ,  483  n. 
2fJS. 

of  names 
iditiou  ro- 
ll. 

7. 

bquake  in 

farnortb, 

m. 

i,  454. 


Tribes,  migrations  of  Asiatic,  270. 
Tripoli,  piuishing  Htono,  7*>^ 
Tubal-Cain,  etymology  of,  18J. 
Turkomans,  cradlo  of,  2(58. 
Turks  ditfer  from  their  Tartar  origin, 

157., 
Turanian  race,  relations  of,  2(J0. 
Typo,  physical,  permauenco  of,  228. 
Types  dillbruut,  of  mankind,  2(i7> 

Universe,  origin  of  the,  IJible  theory 
of  the,  18,  ly  J  Indian  theory  of,  21. 

Ur,  ancient  description  ot,  2J7 ; 
fertility  of,  302  ;  formerly  on  tlio 
Bca-coast,  302;  climate  of,  302; 
means  light,  320. 

Vedas  sttden  from  Brahma,  201. 
Veddas  of  Ceylon  descended  from 

civilized  Aryans,  104. 
Vertobrata,  appearance  of,  75. 
Volga  and  Oural  ran  inland,  219. 

Wall,  Great,  of  Egypt,  244. 

Warka  the  Necropolis  of  the  Babylo- 
nians, 273. 

Wars  of  conquest  first  mentioned, 
272. 

Washing  the  feet,  411. 

Weaniag  feasts,  3155  ;  age  of,  385. 


Wells  of  Rebecca,  318 ;  women  at 
Eiistern,  319;  Jacob's  strife  about, 
422. 

Windn,  Jewish  idea  of  storoliouie 
of  the,  55. 

Wine-press,  Egyptian,  4(53-4;  given 
to  the  Egyptian  temples,  405. 

Witeiicraft,  ID2. 

Woman,  etymology  of,  222;  in  Egypt, 
honoured,  450-7. 

World,  medieval  ideas  of  form  of, 
52  3  ;  ehartof,  first,  53;  Acriuliau 
ideas  of ,  53;  Jewish  ideas  of,  55; 
map  of,  first,  53  ;  first  Jewish  ideas 
of  size  of,  53 ;  ago  of,  Greek  and 
Indian  ideas  of,  110;  as  known 
to  Ancient  nel)rew8,  242  ;  Hebrew 
conc0i>tion  of  the  size  of,  2G0. 

Writing,  was  it  known  before  the 
Deluge,  20;  Accadian,  sourco  of 
Assyrian,  258. 

Xerxes,  ideas  of  nature  as  a  living 
being,  17. 

Zomaritcs,  the,  255. 
Zillah,  etymology  of,  181. 
Zoar,  377. 

Zodiac,  hieroglyphic  figures  on  Egyp- 
tian, 147. 


298-9. 

F,  116;   of 

d  Babylo- 

of    Jife, 

Soma  tree, 

ge  of,  214 ; 

',  214;  de- 
b.  of  Pales. 


TEXTS    ILLUSTRATED. 


Genesis 

i.  2  

»)    /  ••(  •••  ••• 

11.  O  •••  ••• 

iv»  /         •••  •»• 

14 

jj  xo      •••  ••• 

yy     lO  •••  ••• 

VI.   rfc  «««  ««« 

14 
X.  10      

>>  /        •••  • 

,,  22     ...  , 
,,  25      ... 

xi.  3       ...  , 

4 

»i  •        •••  ' 

„26     ...  , 

),  28,  ol  I 
xii.  2-4 


„  6     ... 

,.16    ... 

„  20    ... 
xiii.  1-12 

„  18   ... 
xiv.  5-7... 

„   13  ... 

„  18-20 

„  22   ... 
XV-  2      ... 

17 
xvi.  12  ... 
xvii.  1    ... 

„  17  ... 
xviii.  2-8 

„  6,7... 

„  19    ... 
XX.  4      ... 
xxT.  22-32 
xxii.  22-24 
xxiii.  4  ... 

„  15    ... 

„  17  ... 

„  18   ... 

„  26,  34 

„  40   ... 
xxiv.  10... 

„  16  ... 

„  23  .. 
XXV.  3    ... 


PAOB 

...      24 

...  498 
...  238 
...  186 
...  223 
...  226 
...  11 
...  188 
...  223 
25,  272 
...  2.38 
255,  293 
294,  416 
...  275 
...  290 
...  28 
...  326 
...  295 
...     339 


..    338,  398 

364 

366 

390 

338 

253 

..    2.j3,  294 
..      28, 331 

382 

340 

466 

416 

280 

401 

25,  34,  329 

328 

..    331,447 

28 

331 

323 

,.    252,400 

219 

418 

402 

ooo 

,.     ...     280 

316 

,.     ...     415 

401 

.    ...    2ta 


XXV.  18  ... 
„    20... 


>> 

25... 

», 

34... 

xxvii 

.15 

f> 

27,28 

... 

)i 

46 

xxviii.  22 

xxix 

17,  27 

XvX. 

1   ... 

)* 

3   ... 

>>  _ 

27... 

xxxi. 

33... 

» 

50... 

>> 

54... 

xxxii 

.  11 

xxxiii.  13 

»j 

18,20 

xxxiv.  11 

... 

>> 

14 

•  •  t 

XXXV 

.3... 

.  ■  a 

» 

8  ... 

■  •> 

>» 

20 

.  .. 

xxxvi.  5... 

•  •ft 

xxxvii.  7 

... 

ii 

21 

,,, 

»> 

27 

•  •• 

i> 

35 

.  •. 

xxxviii.  2-6 

•  •• 

)t 

24 

•  •• 

xli.  40   ... 

••• 

xliii. 

22... 

•  •• 

xliv. 

5,15 

•  •• 

xlv.  8     ... 

•  •• 

xlvii. 

6  ... 

•  •• 

i} 

17,18 

•  .  • 

it 

21 

•  «» 

>» 

29 

•  •• 

xlviii 

.7... 

>  •  . 

tt 

15 

t  t  • 

it 

22     ! 

253, 

PAGB 

417,  418 

...  401 

...  458 

...  329 

...  493 

•  ••  ^-wTJ 

...  353 

...  383 

...  430 

...  ooo 

...  500 

...  431 

...  432 

...  4^53 

...  434 

...  435 
438,  Ui 

...  4.:i7 

...  408 

...  447 

...  425 

...  420 

...  401 

...  333 

422,  4 14 

...  iZ9 

...  491 

...  431 

...  229 

...  4.33 

...  477 

...  439 

...  491 

...  '18G 

...  495 

859,  495 

...  4S3 

...  400 

...  420 

...  280 
437,440 


Exodus. 


i.  5... 
iii  18 
ix.  3 
xii.  29  ... 
xiii.  ?3  ... 
xvii.  16  ... 


•  ••  •  •  • 


•  ••  •••  ••• 


••«  •«• 


•  ••  ••• 


494 
52 
359 
449 
500 
352 


PAO? 

XX.  5      227 

„  18    343 

xsiii.  10        219 

xxiv.  7 59 

xxvii.  7-15   229 

xxxiii.  19      500 

xxxiv.  21      224 

Leviticu"?. 

ix.  11     429 

xvii.  11 225 

xviii.  18 429 

xix.  27 343 

XX.  17    429 

xxvii.  5 451 

,,     30       383 

Numbers. 

xiii.  29 253 

„    30,33   253 

xxi.  17 422 

xxiv.  24...      f.     ...  264 

xxvi.  28-37 494 

xxvii.  2,  3,  4       ...  430 

xxxi.  31 383 

Deuteronomy. 

i.  28      281 

ii.  10-20       188 

iii.  11    188 

vi.  11     449 

vii.  7     324 

X.  22      494 

xi.  30     356,398 

xvii.  16 359 

xxvii.  22       429 

xxxii.  49      417 

.TOSHUA. 

ii.22     353 

vii.  8 448 

viii.  1     219 

„  30,35    440 

)  y       Oi.       ...           •••           •••  «/ 

xi.  3       2.52 

xii.  9-24       3'.4 

.,     G   426 

xiii.  5     254 

„    26,  30    435 

xvii.  15 350 


tm 


TEXTS  ILLUSTRATED. 


511 


us. 


RS. 


PAOT 

227 
342 
219 
59 
229 
500 
221 


429 
225 
429 
343 
429 
451 
383 


.  253 

.  253 

,.  422 

.  264 

,.  494 

..  430 

..  383 

NOMY. 

...  281 

...  188 

...  188 

...  449 

...  324 

...  494 
356,  398 

...  359 

...  429 

...  417 


lA. 


352 
448 
219 
440 
9 
252 
3."4 
426 
254 
485 
350 


xviii.  16...- 
xix.  28  ... 
xxiv.  2  ... 
15 
32... 


ft 


rAGB 
...  350 
...  254 
...  308 
...  351 
437,500 


Judges. 


i.  26      

y^   UU  •••  •••  ••• 

ill*  o      «••     •••     ••> 

y  9     O  ■••  •••  ■•  ■ 

1  V»    'M  •••  •••  ••■ 

V.  21      

yii.  1      

IX.  o/       •      ..i 

xiv.  12, 19     

1  Samuel. 

i.  24      

u.  25      ...     ...     .. 

3LV ....         ...         ..^         .« 

xxxi.  13 

2  Samuel. 

ii.8       

viii.  11 

,,  18  ...  . 
xiii.  18  ...  . 
xvii.  24-27  . 
XX.  7  .  . 
xxi.  16-22     . 

1  Kings. 

ii.  2       ...     . 
iv.  6       ...     . 

„21  ....  . 

viii.  65  ...  . 

ix.  20  ...  « 

„  21  ... 

1, 28  ...  . 

,,  oO  ...  . 

X.  22  ...  . 
XX.  49  ... 
xxi.  26  ...  . 
xxii.  48  etc. . 


353 
253 

L54 
2i8 
342 
348 
3U8 
44L 
493 


385 
189 

7 
498 


435 
383 


2  Kings 


ii.  23  ., 
V.  22  ., 
xiv.  6  . 
.xvii.  24  . 
xviii.  34 
xix.  37  . 
xxiii.  10. 


1  Chronicles,  pagb 

ii.34      340 

XV.  18  20     293 

xvi.5     21)3 

xviii.  17        383 

xxvi.  27 383 

2  Chuoniclks. 

iii.  1      398 

ix.  21     2'6 

XX.  7      831,338 

,,36,37     236 

xxiii.  18        9 

xxiv.  10        ...     ...  449 

XXV.  4    9 

xxviii.  3        3'JO 

xxxiii.  6        390 

xxxiv.  14       9 


EcCLESIASTES.  P'OB 

i.  5        38 


Ezra. 


iii.  2 
vii.  6 
ix.  1 
..  11 


Nehehiah. 


viu.  1 
ix.  25 


«  •  • 

383 

•  •• 

448 

... 

435 

•  •  • 

356 

•  •« 

352 

•  •• 

9 

,^ 

aj3 

•  •• 

435 

... 

343 

343 

252 

,254 

■ .  • 

254 

... 

236 

•  .^  • 

254 

•  •• 

236 

•  •• 

236 

•  •• 

351 

... 

229 

« 

477 

•  •• 

493 

■  •• 

9 

•  •• 

821 

•  •• 

321 

•  •  • 

209 

■  •• 

390 

Job. 


Lr.  8       

X.  22      

xii.  7-10 
xxiv.  5-8 
xxvi.  10 
XXX.  1-10      ... 
xxxviii.  19    ... 

Psalms, 

xi.  22,  29      ... 

xix.  4-6 

14 

XXV.  27 

xxxv'ii.  9 
Ixxii.  15        ... 
Ixxiv.  17 

Ixxxii.  1 

xciiv  1 

civ.  2     

»»    "      

„   10-12     ... 

cxvi.  9 

cxxxix.  5 


9 

9 

252 

9 

9 

449 


443 
443 

67 
349 

62 
349 

62 


•  •• 

•  •• 


•  •• 

•  •t 


Proverbs. 


ii.  21 
X.  30 
XX.  4 


Isaiah. 

i.  2 

iii.  20,  21      

xvii.  5    

XV'"..  4-6       

xxiii.  1-12     

1  14 

xxiv.  22 

xxix.  22 

»xxxvi.  19       

xxxvii.  13     

,•      o8 

xl.  22     

A  IX*     O  s^  •««  ••< 

)9       O  •••  •»«  ••• 

xliii.  6  

xliv.  5  

xiv.  14    

Ix.  6  

Jeremiah. 

ii.  10     

iii.  14, 19      

viii.  20 

xiii.  23    

xxxvi.  22       

xxxvii.  16      

xxxviii.  6      

xlvi.  9    

xlix.  8 


219 

38 

280 

66 

219 

243 

224 

189 

38 

38 

38 

66 

280 

89 


219 
219 
224 


EZEKIEL. 


xxvii.  7  ... 
„    10 
„    13 
,,    14 
xxix.  10... 
XXX.  5     .. 
xxxii.  30 
xxxviii.  2-6 
2 
6 
,,       15 
xxxix.  1 
8 


>i 


189 
240 
240 
350 
2i4 
240 
23() 
2^6 
449 
316 
321 
321 
2119 
Gl 
3.'58 
.3:51 
189 
344 
2W) 
243 


236 
189 
224 
240 
224 
449 
419 
249 
243 


234 
249 
233 
232 
239 
2*9 
213 
231 
232 
232 
233 
232 
233 


Daniel. 


xi.  11-13 


ii.  13 
xii.  4,  5 


HoSEA. 


441 
436 


612 


TEXTS   ILLUSIttATED. 


JOPL.           1 

PAOB 

Judith. 

PAOB 

i.  9 

219; 

Amos. 

848 

xvi 

34  . 

Mark. 

•  •• 

498 

i.l... 

348 

xii. 

26 

•  ••        •• 

..    9 

ii.  9 

.'.'.'   188,253 

350 

iii.  15 



224 

Luke. 

iv.  10 
V.  25 
viii.  8 

•••         •••         ••• 

•••          •••         ■•• 

•••          •••         *•• 

348 

59 

348 

ii.22 
xvi.  29 
xxiv.  27 

44 

•  •• 

•  •• 

9 
9 
9 

MiCAH. 

John. 

iv.S 

Zbchariah. 

443. 

iv. 

5 

•••         ••• 

Acrs. 

... 

437 

xiv.S 

•••         ••»         ••• 

224 

u.  5 



■  •• 

219 

vii. 

2^ 

■  ••        ••• 

•  •• 

325 

Malachi. 

xiii 

14 
.39 

•••        ••• 

•  •  • 

494 
9 

0.15 

•  at            •  .■  •            •  1  1 

188 

XV. 

20-29     .... 

*•• 

m 

Romans,      rkom 
i.8        21» 

COLOSSIANS. 

i.  28      ^19 

Thessalonians. 
xiv.  22 382 

Hebrews. 
xl.  19     899 

James. 
ii.23     881,838 

1  John. 

i.  17      9 

vii.  23   9 


I.      rkom 
...    219 

NS. 

...    «.19 


4IANS. 

...    382 


wa. 


...    899 


831,338 


«. 


9 
9 


#■ 


